Is Love For Real?
by Cat2000
Summary: (Rating for possible content in later chapters) Hunter apologises to Dustin, and also confesses his feelings towards him. However, Dustin doesn't take it very well at first. (This story does contain slash! If you don't like it, don't read it)
1. Confessions

**Is Love For Real?**

**Chapter One - Confessions**

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**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from Power Rangers, Ninja Storm, and I'm not making any money from this fic 

**Summary:** Hunter apologises to Dustin, and also confesses his feelings towards him. However, Dustin doesn't take it very well at first 

**Author's Note:** This is slash... -Hides- Don't be mad! My muses made me do it. They won't leave me alone until I write it. 

**DarkAngel:** -Rolls eyes- You've written _one_ other slash fic... 

**RedFox:** -Interrupts him- Actually, more like three 

**DarkAngel:** Yeah, but it was only for one fandom. And it was ages ago 

**RedFox:** -As an aside- He's only saying that because he forgot how many fics she actually wrote 

**DarkCat:** -Looks at the two, and then sends the author a picture of them rolling around on the ground fighting- 

**Me:** It's not going to go _that_ far... Is it? -Notices RedFox and DarkAngel glaring at each other, and groans- Excuse me 

On with the fic! 

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Hunter walked into NinjaOps, pleased, and a little surprised, to see Dustin there alone. That wasn't usual. Cam would _never_ have left his equipment unattended. Especially not where Dustin was concerned. 

Dustin didn't appear to notice Hunter at first. That probably wasn't very surprising, as the yellow wind ranger was doing press-ups. Probably as punishment for something or other. Actually, Hunter reflected, it was probably to do with the brunette turning up late for practice. He never learned. 

Hunter walked over to Dustin, moving slowly so that he could surprise the wind ranger. He reached out, and touched Dustin's shoulder. 

Dustin's reaction was immediate. He jerked up, lost his balance on the table, and crashed onto the floor. 

It was a struggle to keep from laughing, but Hunter managed it as he offered a hand to help Dustin to his feet. "You ok, bro?" 

"Yeah, sure," Dustin muttered, ignoring Hunter's hand and scrambling to his feet, red-faced. "You just startled me, is all." 

Hunter grinned. "That was my intention. What did you do? Turn up late for training yet again?" 

"Actually, yeah," Dustin admitted. "You'd think that I would have learned by now... But I still keep on being late." 

"Well, you can't exactly keep on leaving work early all the time," Hunter noted. "Kelly would start getting suspicious... But you could at least turn up on time _some_ of the time." 

Dustin raked a hand through his hair, and shrugged. "Yeah, well." 

Hunter glanced around just in case Cam and Sensei had been lurking around and he hadn't noticed them. Then, he asked, "Where are Cam and Sensei?" 

Dustin shrugged. "Cam's just... around. Probably outside NinjaOps somewhere. And Sensei's just doing whatever it is hamsters do, I guess." 

Hunter blinked at Dustin. "He's a guinea pig, remember?" 

"Hamster, guinea pig... Whatever." 

"Dustin, I want to apologise," Hunter said slowly. This was, after all, the reason he had come here in the hope of finding the yellow wind ranger. 

"You mean about the whole trying to destroy us all thing?" Dustin asked. 

Hunter nodded slowly. 

"Dude, that wasn't your fault," Dustin said. "The first time, Lothor tricked you... And the second time, it wasn't you. I understand that." 

Hunter sighed. "Dustin, both Blake and I used you," he told the yellow wind ranger, wondering if Dustin actually understood what he was trying to say. "You trusted us... And we abused that trust." 

"Dude, it wasn't your fault," Dustin repeated. "You don't need to apologise. I get it." 

Hunter hesitated for a long moment, just watching Dustin's face. Specifically, his mouth. He had to do it. It was now or never. Before he changed his mind, the crimson thunder ranger leaned forward and pressed his lips lightly against Dustin's, then drew back. 

Dustin stared at Hunter. "What was that for?" he wanted to know. 

Hunter shrugged. "Isn't it obvious? I like you." 

Dustin shook his head. "No way," he said. "Hunter, I can't deal with this. You..." He shook his head, then ran out of NinjaOps. 

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**DarkAngel** and **RedFox** are sitting on opposite sides, not looking at each other, with **DarkCat** in between them. 

**Me:** -Sighs- And hopefully, they'll stay like that 

**DarkCat:** -Sends an image of the two fighting as soon as the author's back is turned- 

**Me:** They'd better not 

**DarkCat:** -Sends a picture to anyone reading this of lots of reviews and the author with a big smile on her face-


	2. Alone

**Is Love For Real?**

**Chapter Two - Alone**

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**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything from Power Rangers, Ninja Storm (Wish I did, though ) and I'm not making any money from this fic 

**Author's Note:** Thank you mysterious-muse, pyke, YellowDustin, and CamFan4Ever for reviewing this fic! And... I'm pretty sure my muses won't kill each other 

**RedFox:** -Grumbles a bit, glaring at DarkAngel- Not allowed to. _She_ -indicating the author- needs him 

**DarkAngel:** -Mutters- Like you'd stand a chance against me 

**RedFox:** -Glares- Want to see how good a chance I'll stand against you? 

**DarkCat:** -Claws at the author's arm to draw her attention to the other two- 

**Me:** -Sighs- Why can't there be some kind of spell to repell them from each other like magnets? 

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Hunter lay on the sofa, staring up at the ceiling of his room, silently berating himself. 

Why_ was I so stupid?_ the crimson thunder ranger raged. _Dustin's never shown even a _hint_ of liking males. So why in the world did I _kiss_ him?!_

Hunter thought back to when he had realised that he preferred males to females. It had been a little while before his and Blake's adopted parents had been killed by Lothor. Not that they had known it was _Lothor's_ doing then. 

Lothor had done a great job of deceiving them. Hunter hadn't told their parents. He had kept meaning to, but he had always been worried about their reaction. He'd felt too insecure. So the only person he had told about his feelings had been Blake, who, after his initial surprise, had accepted Hunter's feelings. _Now_, of course, Dustin knew.__

_Not even _Blake_ knew that I was attracted to Dustin, though,_ Hunter thought to himself. _It seemed dumb to have developed a crush on one of the people who was supposed to our enemy... Then again, Blake did as well._

Hunter had actually _liked_ the yellow wind ranger the first time he had met him - on the race track. Going against his feelings to attack the wind rangers was torture to him. He didn't _want_ to hurt Dustin... But after what Lothor had made him and Blake believe... 

"Boy was I dumb," Hunter said out loud. 

"You ok, bro?" 

Hunter glanced up at the sound of Blake's voice, and tried to smile. "I'm fine, bro," he said. He looked at Blake's outfit, and raised his eyebrows. "Hm, who are you dressing up for? As if I couldn't guess," he gently teased. 

Blake looked a little embarrassed at his older brother's teasing. "I'm going out on a date with Tori," he muttered, looking down. 

Hunter smiled. "So she's forgiven you at last?" he asked. 

"Yeah." Blake nodded. Then, he sighed. "If only Cam and Shane were as understanding." 

"They'll come round," Hunter replied, hoping inside his heart that it was true. "I mean... It's not like it was _all_ our doing, right?" 

"No, it wasn't all our doing," Blake agreed, hearing the undercurrent of nervousness in his brother's voice. He knew that Hunter still felt guilty about attacking him, even though Blake had insisted that he didn't blame Hunter for it. 

Blake hesitated, then said, "You know, Hunter, if it'll make you feel better... I can always cancel the date with Tori and stay and talk to you instead." _Nothing_ would come between the two brothers. Blake had vowed that long ago, and so had Hunter. If his brother wanted to talk, then Blake would make sure that he was available. 

Hunter smiled easily. "I wouldn't ask you to do that, bro." 

Blake just looked at Hunter. "I know you wouldn't," he replied. "But, Hunter, I also don't want you tearing yourself up inside and making yourself totally miserable." 

"Not a lot of chance of _that _happening," Hunter grinned. "You're clearly not about to let me do that." 

Blake returned the grin, but then sighed. "Hunter, you know that you can always talk to me, right? I won't laugh at you or anything like that." 

Hunter knew that Blake told the truth. His brother was like that. They both were. They both took honour seriously. Which was why they helped the wind rangers after Tori had helped Blake. They had owed the wind rangers then, and, as Hunter had said to the blue wind ranger, they _always_ made good on their promises. 

"I know that," Hunter told Blake. "This is something that I need to sort out on my own, though." 

That had been the wrong thing to say. Blake immediately came and sat down next to Hunter, who obligingly moved so that his brother had enough room. 

"Hunter, I'm _not_ going to just leave you to face something alone," Blake told Hunter. 

"What about Tori?" Hunter asked in a last attempt to get his brother to leave him alone. It was a poor attempt, and they both knew it. 

Blake merely shrugged. "She'll understand why I'm late." He then looked at Hunter sharply. "Does it have something to do with Dustin?" he asked bluntly. 

Hunter flinched at that. "You _know_ about Dustin?" 

"I know that you like him," Blake answered. "I'm not a fool, bro. I know you better than anyone else. I could tell how you felt about him, though I decided not to mention it to you, figuring that I might as well wait for you to admit your feelings to me." 

Hunter looked down. "I... kissed him," he mumbled. "When I went to apologise to him for our... for _my_... actions." 

"And he didn't take it well?" Blake's tone was sympathetic. 

"Understatement of the year," Hunter muttered. "He basically told me that he couldn't deal with that, and then ran out of NinjaOps." 

"Hunter, I'm sorry." Blake hugged his brother. 

Hunter shook his head. "It was _my_ fault," he muttered. "I shouldn't have done or said anything." 

"You just took him by surprise, bro," Blake replied. "I'm sure that, once he has a chance to think it over, he'll accept it. He might not be really happy about it... But he'll probably still accept it." 

Hunter just shook his head. 

"Do you want me to stay?" Blake asked. "I don't mind if you need me around. 

Hunter shook his head again. "No, go out and have fun," he replied. "No sense in _both_ of us being stuck here." 

Blake hesitated. Then, he sighed. "All right," he said. "But if you need me, ring me on my cell, ok?" 

Hunter nodded, then pointed to the door. "Go," he told his brother. "I'll be fine." 

Blake left, leaving Hunter alone with his thoughts. 

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**RedFox:** Aww... Poor Hunter****

**DarkAngel:** -Checks to see that the author isn't looking in his direction, then thwacks RedFox upside the head-****

**RedFox:** -Bites his hand-****

**DarkAngel:** Ow! -Snatches his hand back- I'm going to get rabies now!****

**RedFox:** -Growls- I don't have rabies! -Glares at him-****

**DarkAngel:** -Glares right back at RedFox-****

**DarkCat:** -Sends a mental picture of what just happened to the author-****

**Me:** Hey, stop it, you two!****

**RedFox:** -Darts behind the author- Please review this story! It might get better if you do


	3. Hurt

**Is Love For Real?**

**Chapter Three - Hurt**

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**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from Power Rangers, Ninja Storm, and I'm not making any money from this fic 

**CamFan4Ever:** Thanks for reviewing! I _would_ lock my muses in a cupboard... But they'd probably end up killing each other 

**RedFox:** -Runs past with a sandwich in her mouth- 

**DarkAngel:** -Chases after RedFox- Come back here with my sandwich 

**DarkCat:** -Glances at the other two, then returns to eating her food- 

**mysterious-muse:** Well... Don't expect Dustin to come round any time soon 

**DarkAngel:** -Pauses in the middle of chasing RedFox to say- She likes torturing characters and making them totally miserable -Starts chasing after RedFox again- 

**BlueGirl90:** Well, you can have Blake/Tori... But you'll have to wait on Dustin/Hunter 

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At Storm Chargers, Hunter carried some boxes into the store room. Coming back, he almost ran into Kelly. 

"Hey, what's with you and Dustin?" Kelly asked in a low voice, blocking his way. "You two are acting really weird around each other." 

Hunter hesitated, wondering just how much Kelly knew about what he had said and done to Dustin. _Probably not very much,_ he decided, looking intently at his employer. _She doesn't show any signs of... knowing about me._

Hunter shrugged slightly. "Nothing's with me and Dustin," he lied. 

"Hm." Kelly did not look very convinced. "Well, you'll tell me if anything _is_ wrong, right?" she asked. "You know you can always talk to me." 

"Yeah, sure," Hunter replied. Not that he had any intention of telling Kelly what was _really_ bothering him. Especially not after how Dustin had reacted to his feelings. He didn't think he could stand another person he thought of as his friend pulling away from him and looking at him with disgust. 

Which was what Dustin was doing. Hunter hoped that the yellow wind ranger would be able to come round, but he didn't hold out much hope of that actually happening, despite his brother's words. After all, Dustin was only talking to him when he had to at the moment. Why should that change?__

_I wonder if he told the other wind rangers about it?_ Hunter thought as he moved off to do some other things in the shop. 

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Later, Hunter was at the race track alone, riding his bike. Blake had offered to come with him, but he had actually had a date arranged with Tori, so Hunter had said that he would be all right on his own. 

Actually, riding wasn't really making Hunter feel better. Usually, riding helped him work through his bad moods and aggression, but not today. Today, he didn't have that release. 

Hunter stopped his bike, and slammed his fist into his hand. He really felt like hitting something, but there wasn't anything solid nearby. Apart from trees, of course. But Hunter had had experience with punching out trees before to get rid of his aggression. It just made his knuckles hurt. 

Suddenly, Hunter became aware of the fact that he was no longer alone. He glanced up, and spotted Dustin some distance away from him, also with his bike.__

_Oh, great,_ Hunter thought to himself. _I must have been _really_ caught up in my thoughts if I didn't even hear Dustin arriving._

Hunter expected Dustin to start shouting at him, or even to just turn around and leave. But what Dustin actually did caught the crimson thunder ranger completely by surprise. 

"Let's have a race," Dustin said firmly. 

Hunter was surprised. Dustin wanted to race with him? After what he had said to him the other day? Why did he think that there was more to it than that? 

"Ok," Hunter said slowly. He watched as Dustin got onto his bike, then slowly did the same after moving so that he and Dustin were right next to each other. 

"All right, let's go!" Dustin exclaimed after a moment. 

The two started off, going neck and neck. Both were pretty much evenly matched. Hunter had enough time to note the fact that Dustin had clearly been practicing hard before his attention was taken up entirely by the race. 

Hunter's eyes were on the finish line, so he didn't notice the fact that one of the obstacles had fallen into his path at first. Then, when he did, he swerved to one side. Unfortunately, Dustin was right beside him, so Hunter's bike plowed into the yellow wind ranger's, knocking him off, and making him rather angry. 

"Hey, you did that deliberately!" Dustin yelled. 

"No, I didn't," Hunter replied, stopping his bike and getting off. He made his way over to Dustin, and offered a hand to help him to his feet. "Are you all right?" 

Ignoring Hunter's hand, Dustin got to his feet unaided. Then, he swung a hard right at the crimson ranger's jaw, which caught Hunter by surprise. 

"Hey, what did you do that for?" Hunter demanded, taking a step back out of reach as Dustin swung his fist at him again. 

"I want to fight you!" Dustin replied, catching Hunter in the chest, knocking the wind out of the thunder ranger.__

_He's been looking for an excuse to do this,_ Hunter realised as he doubled over, gasping for breath. _He wants me to fight him. But... I can't. I _can't_ fight him._

So Hunter didn't resist as Dustin's fist travelled towards his face. Then, everything went black. 

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Dustin stood looking down at Hunter's unconscious form, feeling the rage leave him as suddenly as it had arrived. What had he just done? He'd just beaten up one of his closest friends... For absolutely _no_ reason. 

Dustin felt tears begin to prick at his eyes. He felt awful. Hunter hadn't even _tried_ to defend himself. He'd refused to fight back. 

Dustin started to reach out to Hunter, then stopped as his morpher went off. There was trouble. He had to go. 

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Tori sat with her head resting on Blake's shoulder, feeling the navy thunder ranger play with her hair. She smiled slightly, and closed her eyes, content to just be in his company. 

"You ok, Tori?" Blake's soft voice brought the blue wind ranger out of the almost-doze she had been in. 

Tori smiled up at Blake, and kissed his cheek. "I'm fine," she answered. "Just being here, with you, makes me happy." 

Blake returned the smile. "I'm glad," he replied. 

Tori frowned slightly as a sudden thought occurred to her. "Blake, is something wrong with Hunter?" she wanted to know. "He hasn't really been acting himself." 

"Well..." Blake began. But then, he was cut off as his morpher sounded. _Saved by the beep,_ he thought with an inaudible sigh of relief as he spoke into the morpher, "Cam, what's wrong?" 

"There's a monster loose in the city," came Cam's short reply. "He has blasters. You need to go and stop him. I assume that Tori is with you as well?" 

"I'm here, Cam," Tori said. 

"Tori, you go too," Cam ordered. 

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By the time Tori and Blake got to the monster, Dustin had already been fighting it for quite some time. 

The yellow wind ranger was tired and hurt quite badly. Blake had barely enough time to wonder where Hunter was before the monster caught sight of them and yelled out, "Kelzacks!" 

And Tori and Blake were suddenly attacked by Kelzacks, which left Dustin on his own to deal with the monster. 

Pretty soon, the yellow wind ranger was tiring. He ended up falling to the ground, and watched helplessly as the monster raised one of its blasters towards him as his vision darkened. 

Just before he lost consciousness, Dustin thought he saw a crimson blur appear in front of him. 

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Read and review, please! 

Ok, it was a little rushed, I know... And thanks, BlueGirl90, for your great suggestion! It was really helpful. -Moves to one side as RedFox and DarkAngel rush past her-


	4. Lost

**Is Love For Real?**

**Chapter Four - Lost**

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**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from Power Rangers, Ninja Storm, and I'm not making any money from this fic 

**Replies to Reviews:**

**BloriConra 4ever:** Glad you like it 

**Kitty:** Here's the next chapter 

**CamFan4Ever:** What do you mean, don't let anything happen to Dustin? What about poor Hunter? Lol 

**DarkCat:** -Meows, eating her tuna while sending the readers an image of RedFox and DarkAngel locked in separate cupboards... And the author with a big smile of relief on her face- 

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Dustin slowly came to, hearing the sound of low voices. 

"What happened to him? He looks terrible!" 

"He was beaten up. Obviously." 

"Oh, I got _that_. I heard Dustin talking in his sleep, remember? What I want to know is _why_ Dustin beat him up... That's not like him at all." 

There was a few moments' silence, and then someone said, "I think that _I_ know... But Hunter wouldn't thank me if I actually told you." 

Dustin felt fuzzy. The inside of his mouth tasted like cotton wool. Not that he had ever actually _tried_ cotton wool... But it was sort of like how he had imagined cotton wool would taste like.__

_What happened?_ Dustin wondered. _The last thing I remember is that monster pointing a blaster at me, and then a crimson blur appearing in front of me. But... that crimson blur _couldn't_ have been Hunter. When I left him, he was unconscious. No way he'd have been able to recover that much to come and help me. But who else could it have been?_

Dustin felt guilt wash over his entire body, pushing aside the traces of exhaustion that still threatened to overwhelm him. Clearly, Hunter was hurt. And it was just as obviously _his_ fault.__

_I reacted badly when Hunter kissed me,_ Dustin remembered. _I don't have a clue why. It's not like I'm homophobic or anything. Hunter's my friend. But how deep do my feelings for him go? Because I think that I might actually, like, _love_ him... But he's hurt now because of me. Because I was looking for an excuse, _any_ excuse, to hurt him. Will he ever be able to forgive me?_

"Dustin, are you awake?" That was Sensei's voice. 

Dustin blinked. Funny, he could have _sworn_ he just sat up... But he was still lying down. That was quite odd. He must have just imagined sitting up. 

Dustin looked around at the others. The first thing he noticed was that Hunter wasn't with them, and that Blake was glaring at him. 

Dustin tried to speak, but no sound came out. He licked his dry lips, and swallowed hard, finally managing to get out, "Water..." 

Cam held a glass of cool water to Dustin's lips, and helped the yellow wind ranger to take small sips. 

Dustin closed his eyes a moment. That was _such_ a relief. He felt the cool liquid slip down his throat, soothing his parched body. 

"Dustin, tell us what happened," Sensei said firmly. 

"Dude, you don't need _me_ to, like, tell you what happened with that monster," Dustin mumbled. "Blake and Tori were there as well. _They_ can tell you what happened." 

"Sensei's not talking about the monster," Shane told Dustin. "He's talking about what happened between you and Hunter, and why Hunter appears to be... dead."__

_DEAD?_ Dustin thought wildly, staring at Shane. He searched for any kind of hint that Shane might be joking around, and found nothing. The red wind ranger was deadly serious. 

Dustin closed his eyes. "Dude, how can Hunter be dead?" he whispered. _This has _got_ to be hard on Blake. It's his brother Shane's talking about._

"We don't know _how_ he can be dead," Tori replied. "But the point is that he _is_ dead. And, Dustin, obviously something happened between you two. You were babbling about Hunter being at the race track while you were unconscious, and Hunter looks like he got into a fight. The logical explanation is that _you_ got into a fight with him... But the only marks you have on you are the ones from that monster you were fighting." 

Dustin flinched. _And now the truth comes out,_ he thought. "I beat Hunter up," he mumbled, trying _really_ hard not to meet Blake's accusing gaze. 

Shane glanced at Blake. "I was right," he said slowly. 

Blake shook his head. "Hunter would _never_ have just stood there while someone beat him up," he insisted. "He would have fought back." 

"No, he wouldn't have," Dustin whispered. He looked up, meeting Blake's gaze finally. "And I'm sure that _you_ know why he wouldn't have." After all, Blake and Hunter were extremely close. Hunter would definitely have told his brother about the fact that he liked males as opposed to females... Or even both. 

Blake stared hard at Dustin, then slowly shrugged as he said, "Love does strange things to people." 

"_Love_?" Shane stared at Blake and then Dustin. "What are you guys talking about?" he demanded. 

"I believe that Blake and Dustin are referring to the fact that Hunter is in love with Dustin," Sensei put in. 

"I can't see _why_ he is," Blake muttered, glaring at Dustin. 

"So, _that's_ why you beat up Hunter, Dustin." Cam slowly shook his head. "I never thought that you would be homophobic." 

"I'm _not_!" Dustin insisted. 

"No, it's just my brother!" Blake snapped. "Or _was_, rather!" His eyes were filled with a deep pain. "I should kill _you_! Or, at the very least, put you in hospital!" 

"Then go ahead!" Dustin replied. There was _no_ way he could live with the guilt of causing Hunter's death. And at least if _he_ was dead, that meant that he didn't have to live without the crimson thunder ranger. 

Dustin didn't even bother to wonder why he felt that way. Didn't bother to wonder exactly why he didn't want to live without seeing Hunter every day. Without being able to work with him. 

"Dustin, Blake, stop that," Sensei said sharply. "Violence is not going to solve anything." 

Dustin dropped his gaze, not able to look at Blake any longer. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "You'll never know how sorry I am... I'd do _anything_ to take back what I did. I don't blame you for hating me. I hate myself, after all." 

Slowly, the anger and hate seeped from the navy thunder ranger's eyes, leaving only the deepest pain. He was a little unsteady as he said, "Your Sensei is right. But Hunter's always been there for me. We were the only family we had left. It doesn't matter that we weren't blood related. We were brothers in every other way, and that was all that mattered." 

"I'm sorry," Dustin whispered. Hesitatingly, he asked, "Can I... see his body?" 

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_When Hunter came to, he could tell immediately where he was. On the Mountain of Lost Ninjas. He remembered when he and Blake had come here when they had thought that the wind rangers' Sensei had killed their parents. It was only later that they had realised just how wrong they had been and how close they had come to making the biggest mistake of their lives.___

_"Hunter."___

_Hunter turned at the sound of the familiar voice, and stared. "Mum, dad," he whispered. "What... Are you doing here? Am I dead?"___

_Hunter's mother moved to gently hug her adopted son tightly to her. The crimson thunder ranger could feel tears falling onto his head, and he was confused. "Mum, what's wrong?" he asked.___

_It was his father who answered. "No, you are not dead," he told his son. "What do you remember?"___

_Hunter frowned, thinking, as his mother released him but remained standing close to him. "I remember Dustin beating me up," he said slowly. "And then everything went black... But something brought me to consciousness again, and I could see that Dustin was going to be shot... So I stood in front of him."___

_"And took the blast for the one you love." His mother wiped at the tears glistening on her cheeks.___

_"You were in spirit form," Hunter's father explained. "When you took the shot for Dustin, it separated you from your body. You are now trapped between the living and the dead."___

_"But... Do the others think that I'm dead?" Hunter asked, his thoughts mainly on Blake, his brother in every way that truly mattered.___

_"Yes, they do," Hunter's father told him. "But... It may be that they realise that you are not truly dead. After all, one of them seems to be quite smart and has clearly closely studied the Ninja Scrolls."___

_Hunter knew instantly that they were talking about Cam, but how was that possible? Cam had not actually been with them in the Cavern of Lost Souls.___

_As if reading his thoughts, Hunter's mother explained, "We have kept a close watch over you and your brother, even though neither of you could see us."___

_Hunter smiled at his mother and at this proof that their parents still loved him and his brother, even though they were dead. He then looked at his father. "How long do I have before I am truly dead?" he wanted to know.___

_Hunter's father met his gaze, and Hunter thought that he saw a flicker of sadness in his eyes. "A week," he answered._

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Read and review, please! 

-Hears the sound of banging, and looks slightly embarrassed- Heh...


	5. Tears and Memories

**Is Love For Real?**

**Chapter Five - Tears and Memories**

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**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from Power Rangers, Ninja Storm, and I'm not making any money from this fic 

**Replies to reviews:**

**mysterious-muse:** I definitely hope they don't too. I need them for my ideas. And, I'm not giving away any of the storyline... You'll have to wait and see if Hunter ends up all right or not and he and Dustin get together 

**CamFan4Ever:** It worked! See? -Points to DarkAngel and RedFox eating chocolate chip fudge cookies- I had to give DarkCat one, too, otherwise she'd get jealous 

**RedFox:** -Pauses in her eating to say- Our author feels really depressed at the moment... She wasn't going to update, but decided that she had to because if she leaves it for too long before writing a new chapter, she'll forget where she was going with her fic 

**DarkAngel:** And, even though that can _sometimes_ be a good thing, because it means that our author gets new ideas for a storyline, it's also bad because when she loses interest in her stories, that means that she's _really_ down -Nods- 

**RedFox:** Yeah, you're right 

**DarkCat:** -Chokes on her cookie in shock that they actually agreed on something- 

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Dustin just stood there, staring at Hunter's limp form. 

The yellow wind ranger felt numb. He couldn't even cry. The tears wouldn't come. He just felt... cold inside. 

Hunter was dead. 

"Oh, man," Dustin whispered. "I can't _believe_ this. Isn't it supposed to be impossible to kill us Power Rangers unless we're actually morphed?" He looked up at Cam, the undisputed technology genius. "Isn't it?" 

"Well, _technically_ it is supposed to be," Cam said slowly after glancing at his father, the guinea pig Sensei, for confirmation. "But, clearly, it seems to be possible." 

"But it _can't_ be!" Dustin protested. "There _has_ to be a way to bring him back! Cam, surely there's _got_ to be a way to bring him back?" 

Shane put a hand on Dustin's shoulder. "Dude, he's gone," he told his friend softly. "You have to deal with it." 

Dustin glanced across at Blake, whose hollow-eyed expression had to be a mirror of his own. Shell-shocked. That's what they were. Neither of them could believe that Hunter really was dead. It was supposed to be impossible, after all.__

_What good are Ranger abilities if they can't even stop someone I care about from dying?_ Dustin thought bitterly. 

"Dustin, I understand how you feel," Sensei told the yellow wind ranger. Dustin seemed to remember something about his own wife, Cam's mother, dying. "But, at the moment, there _are_ more important things to worry about," he added. "There will be time enough to mourn Hunter later." There was a note of deep sadness in the guinea pig's voice, but only someone who knew him well enough would be able to tell that. 

Dustin shook his head vigorously. "No, I'm going to mourn him _now_," he said. "He is... _was_... our friend. We owe him a whole lot more than just a moment's silence or whatever!" 

"I'm sorry, guys," Blake said slowly, his choked tone revealing just how close to tears he truly was. "But I'm with Dustin on this. Hunter was my brother, even if we _were_ both adopted. I can't just ignore his death, or even just push it aside for the time being." 

"Sensei, can't we just break long enough to have enough time to mourn Hunter?" Tori put in. "We _all_ miss him." She glanced around at the others, receiving nods of confirmation from Dustin, Cam, and Blake. 

"The team won't be the same without him," Shane admitted. He looked round at the others, and a sad smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. "Hey, remember when he and Blake helped us out against that frog monster of Lothor's?" 

"I remember," Blake said softly. He lowered his head, struggling with tears. 

"I just mean that you two have always been really honourable," Shane commented in a quiet voice. "Tori helped you out, so you helped _us_ out. Bet you made Lothor mad, though," he added with a quick grin. 

Blake looked up, and a small answering smile tugged briefly at the corners of his mouth as he replied, "Well, it was more annoyed." He gave a small frown. "Of course, we then came into NinjaOps and stole your Sensei." 

"Dude, that was hardly your fault," Dustin broke in. "After all, Lothor made you think that Sensei had murdered your parents." 

"I remember Zurgane appearing at that quarry," Cam said. 

"Oh, that was because Hunter and I kept on annoying him," Blake replied, breaking into a smile. "You should have heard some of the things we said to him." 

"Oh, I bet I can imagine some of them," Tori teased. "From what I know of you, of course." 

As the others remembered Hunter with fond, laughing memories, Dustin glanced at Sensei, and could almost swear he saw a look of satisfaction in the guinea pig's eyes.__

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_"Isn't there any way of communicating with the others?" Hunter asked his parents. "I mean, I don't particularly want to stay dead... Not that I don't like being with you again," he hastened to add.___

_Hunter's parents exchanged glances, and then, almost in unison, shook their heads. "The Cavern of Lost Souls is perhaps the only place you could have a chance of communicating with them," Hunter's father told him.___

_"And even _that_ is not very likely to succeed without the Gem of Souls," Hunter's mother added, her brow creased with concern for her son.___

_"Yeah, that broke," Hunter remembered. "When I tried to use it to protect us from Lothor." He gave a soft sigh. "I wonder whatever happened to the fragments?"___

_"Your friend Cam threw them into the sea," Hunter's mother explained. "His Sensei told him that the Gem of Souls was too dangerous to be kept, even in fragments."___

_Hunter sighed. "I wish that I could just see them once more," he mumbled. "Especially Blake and Dustin. Blake's probably blaming Dustin for my death, and it wasn't his fault."___

_Hunter's mother hugged him gently. "Try not to worry about it," she attempted to soothe him. "After all, who knows what information is held in the Ninja Scrolls? I am sure that not even Cam, as smart as he is, has actually read them all."___

_"And he's hardly going to start reading them now," Hunter sighed. He squeezed his mother, and wondered what he would do without Dustin._

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Dustin sat holding Hunter's cold hand, his tears falling onto the pale, bruised face. 

The others had all left to go home, except for Cam, of course, who was staying in NinjaOps to do some work. Dude, didn't that guy _ever_ sleep? 

Dustin sighed, and looked at Hunter. "Hey, bro," he said softly. "I don't know if you're watching, wherever you are now. I hope you're still around, but that would be a selfish wish to make. I hope that you're at peace. I hope that you're happy." Dustin hesitated for a long moment, and then whispered, "Because _I'm_ not." 

Dustin thought that he felt a faint twitch from the hand he held tightly, but it was probably just his imagination. After all, Hunter was _definitely_ dead. 

Dustin bit his lip, and continued, "I _know_ that I haven't been a very good friend to you, bro. In fact, I've been a _terrible_ friend to you." He let go of Hunter's hand to wipe ineffectively at the tears trickling down his cheeks. Why was confession so hard, even when the one you were confessing to was actually dead? 

Dustin took a deep, ragged breath. "Hunter, I lied," he said dully. "To myself, if not out loud. So I'm going to say this now, and then curse myself for being such a fool that I let my possible happiness slip out of my grasp. 

"I love you, dude. As strange as it sounds, I do. And I should have told you this while you were alive..." Sobs caught in Dustin's throat, and he pressed his cheek against the cold hand he held. "If you were here, Hunter... If you were still alive, I'd be on my hands and knees begging you to forgive me. I hope that, wherever you are now... If you can see me... I just hope... That you can... forgive me..." 

Dustin lowered his head, and allowed himself to weep. 

"Dustin, I've found something!" Cam's voice suddenly came from the other room.****

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**RedFox:** Read and review, please!****

**DarkAngel:** Reviews make _us_, and the author, really happy! Well, most of the time, anyway


	6. Discovery

**Is Love For Real?**

**Chapter Six - Discovery**

****

****COOKIES!!!! -Eats them with a huge smile on her face- 

The three muses exchange glances. 

**RedFox:** I guess _we'd_ better take care of the disclaimer and the replies to reviews, seeing as our author is now on a sugar high 

**DarkAngel** and **DarkCat** nod in agreement 

**RedFox:** Cat does not own Power Rangers, Ninja Storm, or any of the characters from it. If she did, she would probably be really rich and living in a mansion... 

**DarkAngel:** -Breaks in- Actually, she'd probably own her own book shop 

**RedFox:** She'd read all of the books as soon as she gets them, so would it actually be a book _shop_? 

**DarkCat:** -Shows a picture of the author as the owner of a library- 

**RedFox:** Well, _anyway_... All she owns of this fic is the idea 

**DarkAngel:** -Adds- And she owns absolutely _nothing_ that's interesting... So if you sue her, you won't get anything that's of value 

**Replies to Reviews:**

**DarkAngel:** Ahem! -Takes out a piece of paper, and mumbles- At least she actually wrote down the reviews... _I'll_ read them out, seeing as I'm the only one with hands out of us three 

**RedFox:** Yeah, but _I_ can run faster than you can! 

**DarkCat:** -Shows a mental picture of her walking across a really thin wall- 

**Funky In Fishnet:** Hey, you're a new reviewer! Thanks so much, and I'm really pleased you like it. I was rather worried about staying true to the characters while writing a slash fic 

**BlorConra 4ever:** You came up with a new word... Lol. Glad you liked that chapter. I hope you'll like this one too 

**CamFan4Ever:** You've reviewed every chapter so far, thank you! -Huggles- 

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"Dude, what is it?" Dustin asked Cam, hovering in the doorway to the main room of NinjaOps, where most of the technology was. He didn't really want to talk to Cam at the moment. Or _anyone_, for that matter. What he really wanted to do was stay with Hunter's body and cry over the crimson thunder ranger. 

Cam was sitting at the table, a whole load of Ninja Scrolls spread out in front of him. Dustin frowned. _Why is Cam studying the Ninja Scrolls while Hunter is lying dead in the other room?_ he wondered, feeling angry. 

Cam looked up, and waved to one of the empty seats opposite. After a moment's hesitation, Dustin sat down, though he _really_ wasn't up to talking to anyone. He was too busy berating himself for beating Hunter up. 

"Cam, what do you want?" Dustin asked, fidgeting slightly. "I'm sorry, but I'm not really in the mood to get into a longwinded discussion. About anything." 

"I think that you'll be interested in what I'm about to say now," Cam replied. "It's something that I think you'll find _very_ interesting." 

Dustin blinked. Then, he sighed a little, and leaned forward. "I kind of find that hard to believe," he shrugged. "But go ahead. Fire away. I know that you'll tell me anyway, no matter what I actually say." 

"Well, I was thinking about what you said about you Power Rangers not being able to be killed unless you're actually in your Ranger forms," Cam explained. "I decided to check and see if there was any way that Hunter could have actually survived." 

Dustin blinked slowly. "Um, news flash, Cam," he said. "Hunter's body is lying in the other room. There's no pulse, his skin's cold, and he's not responding to anything..." 

"Almost like his spirit's been removed from his body somehow," Cam cut in. 

"Yeah," Dustin agreed. Then, he frowned. "Dude, what's _that_ supposed to mean?" he wanted to know. 

Instead of replying directly to Dustin's question, Cam asked, "Dustin, before you lost consciousness, what do you remember?" 

"Well, it's all, like, a blur," Dustin said slowly. "I mean, I was really weak at that point. You know how it gets that your visions goes all out of whack when you're really tired or whatever?" 

Cam nodded. 

"Well, it was like that," Dustin explained. "I remember thinking that I was definitely going to die, especially as that big creep of Lothor's was leveling one of its blasters at me at that precise moment." Dustin frowned a little. _Funny, I was _sure_ that there was something else,_ he thought to himself. _I remembered it earlier... Oh, well. It can't have been _that_ important if I've forgotten it already._

"Do you remember anything else?" Cam wanted to know. 

Dustin thought harder, then slowly shook his head. "No, I'm pretty sure there's nothing else," he replied. 

"Oh." Cam frowned. "Then it _can't_ have been what I thought it was. I'll carry on looking, though, Dustin," he added as the yellow wind ranger got to his feet. "There could still be a way of bringing Hunter back to life." 

"Yeah, sure, whatever," Dustin mumbled as he walked back into the other room to Hunter's body, not really believing that there could be a way of bringing his friend, the one he loved, back to life. 

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"Blake, are you all right?" Tori asked gently. 

"No, not really," Blake admitted in a low voice. He buried his face in his hands, shoulders shaking with silent sobs. 

Tori put an arm around Blake, and hugged him gently. "Blake, it'll be all right," she attempted to soothe him. 

Blake clung to Tori as though she was his last lifeline. He buried his face in her shoulder, and wept like a brokenhearted child. "I can't believe he's gone." 

"Sh." Tori rocked him gently, though there were tears in her own eyes as well. "I miss him too. We _all_ do." 

Blake mumbled something into Tori's shoulder. 

"What did you say, Blake?" Tori wanted to know. 

Blake raised his head, his eyes red and his cheeks tearstained. "I said that Dustin doesn't," he replied. 

Tori flinched a little at Blake's words. "Blake, I'm sure that that's not true," she told him. "You saw Dustin's reaction when he realised that Hunter was dead. He really cared about him. I imagine that Hunter's confession merely took him by surprise and shook him up badly." She tried to smile, but it was a pretty poor attempt. "After all, think how he must have felt. One of his best friends, and a _male_ friend at that, saying that he had a crush on him?" 

Blake shrugged a little. "It was still Dustin's fault," he said flatly. 

Tori looked into her boyfriend's eyes. _He's not likely to forgive Dustin any time soon,_ she realised. _Maybe he never will. I understand how he must feel... But surely he can see that Dustin is suffering almost as much as he is?_

Tori knew, however, that trying to convince Blake _now_ would be just about impossible. The pain and grief of losing his own brother, the only family he had left, was still raw. 

"Blake, would you like me to stay the night here tonight?" Tori wanted to know. "I'll understand if you'd rather be alone..." 

Blake shook his head. "I don't want to be alone," he whispered. "I think... I need someone to be with me for tonight." 

"All right. Could I use your phone, please?" 

Blake nodded dully. "Sure," he replied. "It's in the kitchen." 

"Thanks." Tori quickly kissed him on the cheek, then got up and moved into the kitchen to ring her parents and let them know that she was staying the night at a friend's house, giving them the number. She was careful not to let on the gender of her friend. As easygoing as her parents were, she was pretty sure that even _they_ would draw the line at her staying over at a male friend's house for the night. She was also careful not to tell them the _real_ reason she was staying. She didn't think it was fair to Blake. 

Coming back into the lounge, Tori saw Blake sitting on the sofa with his head in his hands. He looked up as Tori approached him. 

"I thought I heard him," Blake whispered. "I could have sworn... that I heard him calling me." He smiled bitterly. "Then, I remembered that he was dead." 

Tori couldn't do any more than hold him while he cried.__

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_Hunter reached out to Dustin, wishing that he could wipe the tears from the cheeks of the yellow wind ranger. He wanted to comfort Dustin. He wanted to hold him and swear that he would never leave him. He wanted to gently tease the earth ninja. More importantly, he wanted to spend the rest of his life by Dustin's side._

There's almost a full day gone,_ Hunter thought to himself. _Six days left. Not a long time for them to figure out that I'm not actually dead yet._ Hunter shifted his weight to his other foot, and wondered if ghosts really _were_ weightless and could float. He didn't _feel_ weightless... But then, he supposed that that was because he wasn't truly dead.___

_Hunter drifted over to his body, and looked down at his own lifeless face. He felt no fear of death, or anger. He just felt sad. Sad that he had to leave his friends, especially Blake and Dustin._

Hm, wonder if they'll notice that my body isn't decaying like it's supposed to?_ Hunter thought._ Then again, it's not like they'll keep it around for a long time... How long do bodies take to start decaying anyway? Cam would probably know, but I can't exactly ask him that. Maybe if they _do_ find a way to bring me back, I'll ask if he knows that.__

_Hunter's eyes moved to Dustin's face and the hollow-eyed look that was there. He started to reach out to the yellow wind ranger, then stopped with a slight grimace.___

_Dustin wasn't likely to feel anything. Or, if he _did_ feel anything, he probably wouldn't have a clue as to what it truly was. Much as Hunter loved Dustin, he had to admit that Dustin wasn't the most intelligent of people._

Come on, Dustin, _think_,_ Hunter pleaded silently, looking into Dustin's eyes. _You_ must_ remember what happened. I saw the look on your face when you were talking to Cam. You were struggling to remember what happened while you were trying to fight that monster. I _know_ you were.__

_But Dustin's face remained blank.___

_Hunter sighed, and wondered if traveling to the Cavern of Lost Souls would occur to Cam, or even his father. Probably not. The only spirits they had seen there had been Blake and Hunter's parents. _Blake_ might think of the Cavern of Lost Souls... But Hunter didn't think that it would be wise to trust entirely to that happening._ _If only there was a way to get their attention!___

_Hunter came out of his thoughts a little while later to find that he had somehow managed to appear in the apartment he and his brother rented.___

_Blake was sitting on the sofa, his eyes red. Clearly, he had just been crying.___

_Hunter longed to reach out to his brother and comfort him. "Oh, Blake," he sighed softly.___

_Suddenly, Blake's head jerked up, and he looked around wildly.___

_Hunter froze, and then slowly drifted over so that he was standing in front of Blake. "Can you hear me, bro?"___

_But Blake merely sank back onto the sofa again and buried his face in his hands, crying.___

_Hunter wanted to stay, but it was tearing him up inside to see those he cared about so unhappy about his supposed death. And he would just get frustrated over the fact that none of them could see or even hear him.___

_Hunter left._

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Dustin wiped at the new tears trickling down his cheeks. It felt like he had been crying nonstop. Idly, he wondered if it was possibly for someone to cry themselves completely out. It probably was. But Dustin wasn't getting anywhere near that stage yet. Just remembering something about Hunter was enough to set him off again. 

Dustin slowly shook his head, and began sorting through the memories he had of Hunter in his mind, ignoring the pain that started as he did so. 

Dustin recalled the first time he had met Hunter and Blake. They had seemed to take a liking to him straight away, but that had probably been because the two thunder rangers were just trying to get close to him. They had, after all, stolen the computer disc with the Tsunami cycles on them. 

Dustin's thoughts switched to the two as thunder rangers, when they had attacked him, Tori, and Shane. Really, Dustin should have become suspicious of them, at least. After all, they had been at the track when he had left his backpack behind. And then, Blake had helped Tori against that big frog monster thing. 

Dustin had to smile a little at that. _I bet Hunter wasn't very pleased about what happened then,_ he thought to himself. _Then again, it was pretty obvious that Blake had a crush on Tori... And, hey, you protect the people you love, right?_

Dustin frowned as he suddenly remembered something. Something that had occurred just before he had been knocked out by that monster with blasters... 

"HEY, CAM!" Dustin yelled. "Get in here now!" 

After a few moments, Cam appeared in the doorway. "Dustin, there's no need to shout," he complained. "I can hear you perfectly fine. And, anyway, I'm trying to find something to help Hunter." 

"But I just remembered something!" Dustin protested. 

Cam frowned a bit, and pushed his glasses up on his nose. "Ok, go ahead," he replied. "Tell me what you remember." 

"It was just as that monster was leveling the blaster at me," Dustin explained. He frowned a little. "I remember this crimson blur appearing in front of me, and I thought that it was Hunter... But it _couldn't_ have been Hunter, right? I mean, he was still at the race track, after all, wasn't he?" 

Cam hesitated for a long moment. Then, he said, "Dustin, I'm afraid it probably _was_ Hunter. And that probably means that he's still alive."****

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**DarkAngel:** Is she still on a sugar high? -Referring to the author-****

**DarkCat:** -Nods-****

**RedFox:** In that case, _I'll_ say... Please read and review! We need lots and lots of reviews! They're inspiration for our author!


	7. The Cavern of Lost Souls

**Is Love For Real?**

**Chapter Seven - The Cavern of Lost Souls**

****

**Disclaimer:** No, I _still_ don't own anything from Power Rangers, Ninja Storm 

**RedFox:** -Glances at the author- At least while she's on a sugar high, she's happy 

**DarkCat:** -Nods- 

**DarkAngel:** Well, it means that she's not thinking about how much torture she can put the characters through, and how many different unhappy endings she can come up with 

**Replies to reviews:**

****

**mysterious-muse:** Because it'll be really difficult to bring Hunter back , of course. They only have about six days to do it... In some ways, it may have been easier if he was really dead. It would have been easier to bring him back to life then 

**CamFan4Ever:** Hey, your reviews keep really cheering me up . It really lifts my spirits to open my inbox and find a good review in it. (And that goes for all other reviewers as well) 

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Dustin stared at Cam. "Um, dude, we've already been over this," he reminded Cam. "Hunter is _definitely_ dead. If he _wasn't_, then he would be responding to us." 

"He _can't_ respond to us," Cam explained. "His spirit is no longer inside his body." 

"Which is, like, another way of saying that he's dead," Dustin said, thinking, _Why is Cam still bringing this up? I feel bad enough as it is._

"Not necessarily," Cam replied. "As I said earlier, I was looking through the Ninja Scrolls, and what you've just told me ties in with something I read about in one of the scrolls." 

"What is it?" Dustin wanted to know. 

"I think that I'd better get the others here first," Cam answered. "It's kind of something that I don't want to repeat innumerable times." 

"Well, dude, you wouldn't be repeating it _that_ many times," Dustin commented. "There's only, like, _six_ of us altogether... And there are two of us, and Hunter is... dead." Dustin widened his eyes in an attempt to stop himself from crying at remembering _that_. It didn't work very well, though. 

"Dustin, innumerable isn't a _number_," Cam explained. 

Dustin blinked. "It isn't?" 

Cam sighed. "Never mind," he muttered. "Anyway, I think that Blake should know about this as well." 

"You're probably right," Dustin admitted. He gave a soft sigh. "I just feel so... helpless at the moment. I want to _do_ something. I don't want to just sit around here doing nothing." 

Cam hesitated for a long moment. Then, he sighed. "All right," he muttered. "I'll tell you. But, Dustin, _promise_ that you won't go off and do anything stupid. At least, not on your own."__

_What could be bothering Cam _that_ much?_ Dustin wondered even as he nodded. "All right," he said. "I promise." Naturally, he didn't stop to think that maybe it wasn't such a good idea to promise something before he even knew the details. 

"All right." Cam nodded. "Let me just go and get the Ninja Scroll that has the information in. I want to be sure that I don't get anything of it wrong or miss anything out."And he left the room. 

Dustin looked down at Hunter's lifeless form. "Don't worry, Hunter," he told the body of the crimson thunder ranger, hoping against hope that Hunter would be able to hear him, wherever his spirit was now. "We'll get you back to life," he added. "After all, Cam's the best at this kind of stuff." 

"You know, talking to yourself is the first sign of madness," Cam commented, entering the room again, carrying a scroll. 

Dustin rolled his eyes. "I know," he replied. "And answering yourself is the second. Actually, I was kind of hoping that Hunter's spirit might be hovering around here... Where do these spirits go if they're separated from their bodies anyway?" 

"I don't know," Cam admitted, unfolding the scroll. "This scroll isn't exactly clear on the details. And father wasn't much help. I don't think that this sort of thing has happened very often." 

"Well, no, it wouldn't have," Dustin mumbled. "Those Ninja Scrolls are never helpful when we really need them to be." 

Cam looked at Dustin, but didn't say anything. To be honest, he understood what Dustin was going through. Hunter was his friend as well. And, though Dustin had been a lot closer to Hunter, Cam still felt his loss keenly. 

Cam finally let himself imagine life without Hunter forever, and winced. That was _not_ something which would be good. Dustin would probably be miserable for days. Or perhaps even longer.__

_Actually, maybe it would be a good idea if Dustin _did_ go off and do something stupid,_ Cam thought to himself. _He might be able to work out something that _I_ haven't been able to._ Cam resisted the urge to smack himself in the forehead. _I'm starting to sound like Shane. Dustin doing something stupid would _not_ be a good idea. Dustin's Dustin, and he's more likely to mess something up than do something right._

"Cam, I'm, like, waiting here," Dustin commented. "We don't have all day, you know. There's probably a time limit on this, after all." 

Cam raised his eyebrows at Dustin's use of the word 'we'. Was he already identifying himself with Hunter? And, if he _was_, if the crimson thunder ranger died, what would that actually do to Dustin? Of course, Dustin could just be referring to Cam in using the 'we'. 

"Oh, sorry," Cam muttered, realising that he was getting caught up in his own thoughts again. 

"Hurry up!" Dustin told him. 

"Right." Cam glanced down at the scroll. Chances were, if he just read out what it said, Dustin would get really confused. It was probably better just to summarise the main points. After all, Dustin was right. There _was_ a time limit on it. 

"It basically says here that, even while a Ninja is incapacitated, it's possible for them to protect the ones they care about," Cam explained. "It involves them separating their spirit from their body. While in spirit form, they cannot actually be harmed. But it's quite difficult for them to return to their body again." 

"How long do we have to bring Hunter back?" Dustin demanded. 

Cam met Dustin's gaze. "A week from when the Ninja separates their spirit from their body," he answered. 

"Um, dude, that means that we have, like, _six_ days to bring him back." 

"Actually, it's nearer to five," Cam admitted. Then wished that he hadn't actually said anything. 

"Oh, that's even _worse_!" Dustin snapped. "What else does it say, Cam? Tell me!" 

"I really think that we should wait for the others before I say anything else..." Cam began. 

"And what good would _that_ do?" Dustin demanded. "It would just mean that we have even _less_ time to bring Hunter back! Now tell me what else the scroll says!" Dustin clenched and unclenched his fists, fighting the urge to hit something, anything. He couldn't believe that Hunter was so near death, but that was _way_ better than him actually _being_ dead. 

"Well, it says that someone has to go to the Cavern of Lost Souls..." Cam's voice trailed off as Dustin shot off at Ninja Speed, and he sighed. "Oh, great," he muttered. "Typical Dustin. He didn't even give me a chance to finish!" 

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Dustin came to a halt just outside the entrance to the Cavern of Lost Souls. Then, he hesitated.__

_What if there are loads of spirits inside?_ Dustin wondered. _What if they try and attack me like they did on the mountain of Lost Ninjas? What if Hunter's not there?_

Dustin felt scared. Maybe Cam had been right. Maybe he _should_ have waited for the others.__

_No!_ Dustin told himself._ The longer we wait, the more chance there is of Hunter actually dying!_

Dustin took a deep breath, and slowly walked into the Cavern of Lost Souls. 

Dustin instantly felt like he was being watched, but he couldn't see anything. He didn't know if that made him feel relieved or not. 

After a few moments, Dustin found himself in the area where Blake and Hunter had been about to smash the energy shield around Sensei. That thought caused a flash of pain to stab at him. 

Dustin glanced around. He couldn't _see_ anything... But that didn't mean that nothing was there. 

"Hunter, are you here?" Dustin called softly, feeling a little silly talking to the air. 

There was silence. 

Dustin sighed softly, feeling his eyes beginning to water again. He didn't bother dashing them away this time. "Hunter, I'm sorry for what I did," he whispered. "I _know_ that your spirit got separated from your body because you were protecting me from that monster thingy of Lothor's... And I didn't deserve your protection or your sacrifice." 

There was still silence. 

Dustin glanced back the way he had come. Maybe he should go and get Blake to try... Hunter's brother might have more luck than he did. 

"You know, you _did_ deserve it, actually," Hunter's voice said softly from behind Dustin. 

Dustin looked behind him, then squeaked a little, and took a step back. "Hunter! Is it really you?!" 

Hunter raised his eyebrows, then looked himself over. "Well, it certainly _feels_ like me." 

"Hunter, I'm really sorry for beating you up," Dustin said a little unsteadily. 

Hunter met Dustin's gaze, and smiled, though it was a little sad. "Hey, bro, it's all right," he replied. "I've already forgiven you." 

"You're not dead, you know," Dustin told Hunter. "Cam found a Ninja Scroll with information about what had happened to you in it." 

"Really? What did it say?" Hunter asked. 

"Um, well, apparently someone's supposed to go the Cavern of Lost Souls..." 

"Let me guess." Hunter folded his arms, though his eyes were laughing. "You shot here before Cam could finish." 

"Um, yeah," Dustin admitted. "Sorry," he mumbled. 

Hunter walked over to the yellow wind ranger, and placed his hands on either side of Dustin's face, though neither could actually feel the contact. Hunter then leaned forward so that his forehead would be resting against Dustin's. 

"Don't think about it," Hunter murmured. He went still for a moment, and then nodded. "Yeah, I get it," he said, apparently to the air. 

"What is it?" Dustin wanted to know. 

"You have to go through the door behind me," Hunter explained to Dustin. 

Dustin stared at the crimson thunder ranger, wondering if Hunter had lost his mind. "Dude, there's no door behind you," he said slowly. 

"Oh, isn't there?" Hunter moved aside, revealing a door that had been cut into the rock behind him. 

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Read and review, please!


	8. A White Cat

**Is Love For Real?**

**Chapter Eight - A White Cat**

****

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from Power Rangers, Ninja Storm, and I'm not making any money from this fic 

**mysterious-muse, crazy4nc128, and CamFan4Ever:** Glad you liked the last chapter. I hope you like this one too 

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"So what's through that door?" Dustin asked Hunter, thinking, _Wow, my life is strange. I've just realised that I'm in love with one of my best friends, who's male, and is trapped between the living and the dead... And I'm not fazed one bit._

"I can't tell you that," Hunter answered, dropping his hands. "It's against the rules." 

"What rules?" Dustin demanded. "Dude, who makes all the rules?" 

Hunter raised his shoulders and lowered them in a slight shrug. "I don't know," he replied. "But I can't disobey. I'm sorry." 

"No, it's cool, man," Dustin replied. "If you can't tell me, you can't tell me. It doesn't matter. But going through that door is the only way to bring you back?" 

Hunter nodded. "That's what it looks like." 

"And maybe this will make up for what I did to you," Dustin commented. 

"Dude, don't blame yourself," Hunter told Dustin. "I know that you didn't mean it, Dustin." 

A couple of tears escaped Dustin's eyes and slid down his cheeks. 

"Don't cry, Dustin," Hunter said softly. "It wasn't your fault. I was protecting you. It was _my_ decision to make." 

"But if I hadn't have beaten you up, this never would have happened," Dustin protested. 

Hunter reached out a hand as though he was going to stroke Dustin's face, though, because he was a spirit, he couldn't touch anything. "Dustin, blaming yourself isn't going to help any. And, if it makes you feel any better, I don't blame you at all." 

"I blame myself," Dustin mumbled. "I'll do _anything_ to bring you back, Hunter. I know that when I beat you up, I was just looking for an excuse to hurt you." 

Hunter ran phantom fingers through Dustin's hair. He then leaned forward so that, if he had been solid, their lips would have met. "Don't worry about it, Dustin," he murmured. 

"Easy for _you_ to say," Dustin mumbled. "You haven't done anything wrong." 

"Neither have you," Hunter replied. "And as soon as I get my body back, I'll prove it to you." 

Dustin blinked. "You have that much faith in me?" he asked. 

"I love you," Hunter answered as if that explained everything.__

_He loves me?_ Dustin thought. _I should tell him that I love him as well._ But the yellow wind ranger couldn't find the words. And Hunter didn't _seem_ to expect a reply. 

"I... I'll go through," Dustin whispered. 

Hunter gave him a gentle smile. "I'll be waiting for you," he replied. 

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"Cam, what is it?" Dustin asked as he entered NinjaOps. Blake and Tori were already there, but the red wind ranger could tell that they didn't know what was going on either. 

Cam turned from his computer screen to look at Shane. "It's Dustin," he replied. 

Shane frowned. "Dustin?" _Oh, great. What trouble has that airhead got himself into _this_ time?_

"What happened to Dustin?" Tori wanted to know. Blake didn't look too worried about the yellow wind ranger, but one couldn't really blame him. Dustin had, after all, been responsible for his brother's condition now. 

"I found out that Hunter isn't really dead," Cam answered. 

Blake stared. "_What_?" 

"Your brother isn't really dead," Cam explained to Blake. "He's not exactly alive... But he isn't dead, either. He's trapped between the living and the dead." 

"You mean... There's a way to bring him back?" Blake wanted to know. 

Cam nodded. "I was explaining that to Dustin," he said. "But I only got as far as telling him that someone had to go to the Cavern of Lost Souls. Before I could say anything else, he had shot off." 

"Typical Dustin," Shane muttered. "Never thinks of the consequences of what he does." 

"How can Hunter be brought back?" Blake demanded. 

"Well, it seems to be something to do with certain tasks," Cam answered. "Or, rather, tests."__

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_Dustin found himself on a grassy plain in a place he didn't recognise._ __

_Where am I?" Dustin wondered out loud.___

_"In the spirit world," a female voice behind the yellow wind ranger answered.___

_Dustin turned round, and blinked in surprise as he saw a small white cat sitting on the ground behind him. "Who are you?" he asked.___

_The cat flicked her tail slightly, looking bored. "I'm the keeper of the spirit world," she answered. "Its guardian."___

_"Am I dead?" Dustin wanted to know.___

_The cat slowly shook her head from side to side. "No," she replied. "Don't you remember what you came here for?"___

_Dustin blinked slowly, feeling something tug at his mind. But, when he tried to reach for it, it had gone. "No..." he replied. "I don't remember why I'm here. Do _you_ know why I'm here?"___

_The cat swished her tail slightly from side to side. "No," she answered. "Why don't you try and remember? It had to have been important. Live mortals don't come into the spirit world very often."___

_Dustin concentrated for a few moments, then slowly shook his head. "No, I can't remember," he said. "I'll have to try and think later."___

_"Mortals cannot stay in the spirit world for very long," the cat told Dustin. "If they try, they turn into wraiths."_

Time limit?_ Dustin again felt a tugging at his mind, but, yet again, he couldn't remember what it was. "What's your name?" he asked.___

_The cat blinked slowly. "My true name would tie your tongue in knots if you tried to pronounce it," she answered. "But you may call me Alessa."___

_Dustin flashed a smile. "Hi, Alessa," he said. "My name's Dustin. What did you mean by people turning into wraiths if they stay here for too long?"___

_Alessa yawned, then got up and padded over to Dustin. "Those who are not truly dead may not stay here for long," she explained. "It upsets the balance. They become without form. Pick me up," she ordered imperiously. "I will travel with you for a time."___

_Dustin laughed a little, and then bent and picked up the cat. "Ok," he said. "Where should we go?"___

_Alessa blinked. "Don't you know?" she asked.___

_Dustin frowned a little, and then shrugged. "Ok," he said. "I pick... this way." And he started walking._

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Read and review, please!


	9. Remembering

**Is Love For Real?**

**Chapter Nine - Remembering**

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**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from Power Rangers, Ninja Storm, and I'm not making any money from this fic 

**Author's Note:** Just to warn you... Don't get too used to me updating this regularly. Sometimes I can go for months without updating a fic, especially if I lose interest in it. So far, that hasn't happened, but if a fic starts going on too long, I start to get bored... Which is why reviews are so great . Good or bad, at least I know that _some_ people are reading my fics and are being affected by them 

**Replies to reviews:**

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**mysterious-muse:** Glad you liked it . I'd be a bit worried if it wasn't getting good 

**BloriConra 4ever:** Well, you're half right. Dustin can't start the tests until he remembers why he is in the spirit world, so I suppose remembering could be classified as a test 

**CamFan4Ever:** COOKIES! Thankees! -Shares them out with her muses- 

**YellowCrimsonforever:** Yay, a new reviewer! Glad you like it 

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Blake, Shane, and Tori arrived at the entrance to the Cavern of Lost Souls. 

Once there, Shane looked around. "Dude, what is it we're supposed to be looking for?" 

"Anything out of the ordinary, perhaps?" Tori suggested. "Like Cam said, if Dustin's in the spirit world, his body probably won't be, just his soul. We need to get to his body before Lothor and his minions work out that how badly we've been weakened. I'm actually surprised that they haven't discovered Hunter's death yet." 

"I'm not really _that_ surprised," Shane replied. "Cam's great with technology. After all, he spends the majority of his time staring at the computer screen. I'll bet that he'll have worked out a way of keeping Hunter's condition from Lothor and his goons." 

Blake was hollow-eyed. Finding out that Hunter wasn't dead _or_ alive hadn't made the navy thunder ranger feel much better. "I don't see why we can't just leave Dustin's body here," he muttered. 

"Blake, Dustin's our friend," Shane told the navy thunder ranger. "We _can't_ just leave him here." 

"He's your friend, too," Tori added. 

Blake stared at the blue wind ranger for a long moment, then looked away. "What makes you say that?" he demanded. 

Tori shrugged. "It's the truth," she answered. "I think that, much as you'd like to, you can't bring yourself to hate Dustin, despite what he did to your brother. You like him too much." 

"How well you know me," Blake murmured. "But if Hunter dies, Dustin _will_ pay." 

Shane slowly shook his head. "Dude, I know Dustin," he told Blake. "If Hunter dies, Dustin won't defend himself against you. He'll be too eaten up inside by the guilt he's feeling deep inside." 

For a moment, Tori allowed her mind to drift to thoughts that had nothing to do with the situation they were facing now. _Hm, Shane and Cam seem to be getting quite close to each other,_ she thought to herself. _Could they be...? Nah. I don't think _either_ of them lean in that direction._

Tori suddenly realised that Blake had been saying something to her. She looked sheepishly at the navy thunder ranger. "Sorry, what were you just saying?" 

Blake flashed a quick grin, the first smile he had given since Hunter's apparent death. "Been thinking of something more important than me?" he teased gently. 

Tori returned the smile, thinking, _I can't really say what I was just thinking. It wouldn't be fair to Shane and would probably embarrass him. Still... He and Cam _have_ been acting rather strangely around each other lately._

"Blake was just saying that we should probably go into the Cavern of Lost Souls," Shane explained. "I'll go first." 

Neither Tori nor Blake argued with that. Shane was technically their leader, after all. The rest of the group looked up to him. Except possibly for Hunter, who spent most of his time constantly arguing with and undermining Shane. Of course, Blake would always do what Hunter said because they were brothers. They'd been together since _way_ before the thunder rangers and the wind rangers had finally teamed up. 

As they made their way towards the entrance to the Cavern of Lost Souls, Tori reached to take Blake's hand. She was a little surprised but pleased when the navy thunder ranger laced his fingers through hers and gently squeezed her hand. 

Shane walked right up to the entrance, and then stopped. 

Tori blinked. "Shane, what's wrong?" she asked. 

"I can't get through." Shane spoke with gritted teeth, and Tori guessed that he was just barely holding his anger in check. "There seems to be some kind of invisible force field blocking the entrance." 

Blake frowned a little. "Let _me_ try," he said, releasing Tori's hand and moving over to the entrance to the cavern. 

"I don't see what you can do," Shane commented, moving out of Blake's way. "But you're welcome to try." 

Tori watched as the navy thunder ranger ran his fingers over the gap. It seemed like there was definitely a resistance there, as the blue wind ranger saw Blake try to push against something that didn't seem to be there at all. 

At last, Blake dropped his hand, and moved back, his shoulders slumped with defeat. "It doesn't seem to be possible to get through," he mumbled. 

"I guess only _one _person is allowed to enter the Cavern of Lost Souls in this kind of situation," Shane commented. The red wind ranger walked over to Blake, and placed his hand comfortingly on his shoulder. 

Blake lowered his head, and Tori wondered if he was about to cry. "But what if Dustin fails?" The words sounded choked, as though Blake was trying his hardest to hold back tears and barely succeeding. 

"He won't fail," Shane tried to reassure Blake. "Dustin will fight his hardest for Hunter's life. He'll fight just as hard as you would. As Hunter would if _you_ were in the same condition." Shane shot Tori a look which clearly asked her to come over and help him with Blake. 

Tori walked over to the navy thunder ranger, and hugged him gently. "It's all right to cry," she told him. "There's no shame in it. Shane and I are both here for you. We understand what you're going through." 

Blake suddenly clutched at Tori, weeping like a brokenhearted child. 

The blue wind ranger held her boyfriend close, feeling tears pricking at her own eyes. 

Shane spoke into his communicator: 

"Cam, the entrance to the Cavern of Lost Souls appears to be blocked off in some way." 

"I suppose you'd like me to try and find a way of getting rid of whatever's blocking the entrance?" Cam asked dryly. 

"Yeah, that would be great, Cam," Shane answered. "Tori, Blake, and I'll stay here. Let us know when you've managed to free the entrance." 

"Will do."__

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_Dustin was just walking aimlessly. He wasn't sure exactly where it was he was going. He was just following his feet.___

_"Have you remembered why you're here yet?" Alessa wanted to know.___

_The yellow wind ranger looked down at the white cat he held in his arms. "No, not yet," he admitted. "Sorry."___

_Alessa yawned, and rubbed her nose with a paw. "I don't know why you're apologising to _me_," she commented. "I'm not really bothered if you don't manage to get out of here in time."___

_Dustin blinked. "Why?" he asked. "You said that if I stay here too long, it will disrupt the balance between the living and the dead."___

_"It _will_," Alasse agreed. "But the spirit world has its own way of dealing with that. Like I said earlier, you'll be transformed into a wraith if you stay here for too long, so the balance won't be upset permanently."___

_"Is there any way of staying here longer _without_ turning into a wraith?" Dustin wanted to know. _I need more time!_ he thought to himself. _I can't even remember what it is I'm supposed to be doing here! It _has_ to be important... But I just can't figure it out.__

_Alessa shook her head from side to side. "No," she answered. "That would be impossible. Even if someone _did_ find a way, it would upset the balance between the living and the dead too much and everything would change."___

_"Oh." Dustin glanced around. "Everything looks the same," he noted. "Why isn't there any variety here?"___

_Alessa blinked. "Spirits rarely need variety," she answered. "It's not entirely necessary."___

_"Do you have any idea what my purpose here is?" Dustin asked the cat.___

_"No, I do not," Alessa replied. "And, to be totally honest, I don't particularly care. I've decided to travel along with you. For now. But I may change my mind at some point and leave you alone."___

_"You're not very nice," Dustin muttered.___

_Alessa blinked again. "I'm a cat," she said as if that explained everything.___

_"Do you hunt?" Dustin wanted to know.___

_"Of course I do." Alessa stretched, kneading Dustin's arm a little. A soft purr came from her body as she settled more comfortably into Dustin's arms.___

_"You know, I've never actually had a pet before," Dustin commented.___

_"I'm not a pet," Alessa told Dustin.___

_"I know," Dustin replied. "But you're the closest I've ever come to actually having a pet of my own. Admittedly, though, I've never been particularly fond of cats. I always thought that I would much prefer a dog."___

_Alessa growled at the mention of the word 'dog'. "Don't mention that word to me!" she snapped angrily.___

_Dustin blinked. "Why not?" he asked cluelessly.___

_"Cats and dogs don't get along very well," Alessa answered. "Actually, we don't get along at _all 

_Dustin laughed. "I'm really going to have to tell Hunter about you..." he began. Then, he stopped dead.___

_Alessa dug her claws into Dustin's arm to keep her perch, but the yellow wind ranger didn't even notice the pain. "That's it!" he exclaimed. "I've realised now what I'm doing here!"_

_Alessa tilted her head to the side. "Why _are _you here?" she demanded.___

_"To rescue my friend," Dustin explained. He almost said boyfriend, but stopped himself when he wondered how in the world he would explain _that_ to Alessa. "He's trapped between the living and the dead."___

_Alessa merely blinked. "Oh, so _that's_ what you're doing here."___

_"Do you know how I can get my friend back?" Dustin asked.___

_"Yes, I do," Alessa replied. "You have to complete a certain number of tests."___

_"Tests?" Dustin frowned. "What kind of tests?" Dustin had never been particularly good at tests.___

_Alessa shrugged, an action which looked extremely weird on a cat. "That depends," she answered._

_"Depends on what?"_

_"On the situation and on the personality of you and your friend, of course," Alessa replied. "Come on. You'll have to follow me." And she leaped out of Dustin's arms and bounded away._

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Read and review, please!


	10. Tests

**Is Love For Real?**

**Chapter Ten - Tests**

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**Disclaimer:** I _still_ don't own anything from Power Rangers, Ninja Storm 

**Replies to reviews:**

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**CamFan4Ever:** Dusty? Hm... -Gets a mischievous look in her eyes- 

**RedFox:** Uh-oh 

**DarkCat:** -Nods in agreement- 

**DarkAngel:** -Mumbles- Wait for her to find a way of incorporating that nickname into this fic 

**RedFox:** -Says sweetly- Incorporating? Wow. That's a big word for you 

**garnetred:** Actually, I originally didn't plan on Shane/Cam... But I was typing out Chapter Nine, and I typed that bit up before I thought about it. So there _will_ be Shane/Cam... But it isn't the main pairing. Although I might... 

**DarkAngel:** -Puts his hand over the author's mouth- -- 

**RedFox:** You're not supposed to give away stuff like that! 

**DarkCat:** -Nods her agreement, and shows a mental image of everyone really mad because they know what's going to happen, and there'll be no more reviews!- 

**Me:** -Pulls DarkAngel's hand away from her mouth- Ok! I get it 

**BlueAngel07:** I'm glad you liked it! 

**Author's Note:** I apologise if I may be repeating myself in any of these chapters... It's not intentional. But with Blake especially, I think that he's going to need a lot of reassuring, and he'll probably still stay mad at Dustin despite what the others say to him 

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"Cam, how are you doing with that barrier?" Shane yelled into his morpher. 

There was a moment's hesitation, and then Cam's voice replied, sounding a little annoyed, "I'd be getting it done a _lot_ faster if you didn't keep on interrupting me, Shane." 

"Hey, are you ok?" Tori asked Blake softly. 

The navy thunder ranger slowly shook his head. "No, I'm not," he admitted in a low voice. "Tori, I'm sorry... But I don't think I can forgive Dustin for what he did to Hunter. It was uncalled for." 

"I know," Tori replied. "But, Blake, Dustin isn't usually like that... He's not homophobic or anything, I'm sure of it. It's just... I guess he felt weird having one of his best friends telling him that he liked him in the more-than-friends way. Not to mention the fact that that friend is male as well." 

"Tori, do you think that Hunter will be all right?" Blake asked softly. 

"I'm sure he will be," Tori answered with a confidence that she didn't really feel. "Dustin really cares about your brother, Blake. I think that he may actually be in love with him. No, I'm _sure_ of it." _There's no other explanation for it,_ Tori knew. _Why _else_ would Dustin have gotten Cam to tell him what he had found out about bringing Hunter back, and then streaked off here before Cam had even finished telling him what had to be done?_

"He sure doesn't show it," Blake mumbled. 

"Blake, you _know_ Dustin," Tori told her boyfriend. "You know what he's like. Can you honestly say that Dustin is even _capable _of being naturally cruel?" 

Blake hesitated for a long moment, and then looked down. "No, I guess I can't," he muttered. "But, Tori, it's not fair that you keep on defending him. The fact remains that Dustin _did_ beat up my brother, and caused this whole situation, whether he meant to or not." 

"I understand how you feel, Blake..." Tori began. 

"No, you don't!" Blake interrupted the blue wind ranger, his eyes blazing with anger. "Hunter's my only brother! He's the only family I have left! It's all right for _you_ and Shane and Dustin... You all have your family still around! If I lose Hunter, I'll have lost everyone who's ever cared about me!" 

Tori looked steadily at Blake. "No, you won't have lost everyone who's ever cared about you," she said, her tone soft. "_I_ care about you, Blake. I love you." 

Blake stared at Tori for a long moment, and then his eyes filled with tears and he hugged the blue wind ranger tightly to him. "I love you too," he murmured. 

"Cam, do you know anything about these tests that have to be completed?" Shane wanted to know. For a moment, he allowed himself to imagine that Blake and Tori weren't around. That he was speaking to Cam alone. 

"Shane, weren't you listening to what I said earlier?" Cam sighed. 

Shane grinned to himself. He could just see, in his mind's eye, Cam shaking his head. "Not really," he admitted, serious again. "I was a little worried that Blake would storm up here and try to rip Dustin apart with his bare hands at that particular moment." 

Cam gave a soft laugh, which made Shane smile too. "He certainly _looked_ mad enough to do that," Cam commented. 

Shane glanced over to Tori and Blake, and saw, to his relief, that the two rangers weren't paying any attention to him. They seemed to only have eyes for each other. Even so, he whispered, "Hey, Cam, once this is over..." His voice trailed off. 

Cam waited for a few moments, then prompted, "Yes?" 

Shane took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "How do you feel about going public?" he asked, his lips barely moving. 

Cam was silent for a long moment. Then, "You mean let the others know that we're in a... relationship?" 

Are_ we in a relationship?_ Shane wondered. _In a relationship, you usually flirt or whatever around other people, even kiss... Not that I can actually imagine Cam and I flirting, to be honest... But still..._ "Yes," Shane said anyway. 

"Shane, I don't know," Cam replied slowly. "I'm not sure what my father would say to us being together, after all." 

"Oh, I'm sure he'd be cool with it," Shane responded. "After all, he's your dad, isn't he? He'd want you to be happy." 

"I guess... But, Shane, could we please talk about this later?" Cam sounded almost afraid. 

Shane frowned a little to himself. _If going public bothers Cam _that_ much, I just won't bring it up again,_ he decided. After all, people in love had to be willing to make sacrifices for the person they loved. And, anyway, there _was_ the other thing that Shane had asked. "We don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," Shane told Cam. 

"Thanks." Cam sounded relieved. 

"So, anyway, about these tests...?" 

"The Ninja Scrolls aren't totally clear on the tests aspects," Cam explained. "I guess that the tests would be easy to complete if you knew about them in advance... But what the Scrolls _do_ say is that the tests have to be completed the person who entered the Cavern of Lost Souls... And that, if they fail even one test, then the person they're trying to bring back will pass into the world of the dead." 

Shane winced. _Ouch. That's kind of harsh,_ he thought to himself. _I guess that means that there are no second chances._

"Hey, Cam," Shane said suddenly. 

"What is it, Shane?" "If what happened to Hunter _ever_ happens to you... I'd fight tooth and nail to get you back."__

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_Alessa led Dustin into a place which looked very similar to a courtroom. There were some rather odd-looking creatures which looked very similar to wolves, apart from the fact that they stood on their hind legs and some sat on stool-like objects.___

_Alessa stopped in the doorway, an action which forced Dustin to stop as well unless he wanted to trip over the cat.___

_"Um... Who are those?" Dustin asked Alessa in a low voice.___

_Alessa's tail swished from side to side. "They're the guardians of the other worlds," she replied. "Don't trust them."___

_"Are you only saying that because they're like, wolves, and you're a cat?" Dustin wanted to know.___

_Alessa turned her head, and glared at the yellow wind ranger. But, before she could say anything, one of the wolves spoke in a hissing voice:___

_"Come mortal."___

_Dustin found himself pulled into the courtroom by an unseen force. He didn't try to fight it. He definitely wasn't going to do anything which would risk him losing Hunter.___

_"You have a requesssst, mortal," one of the other wolves said. "Sssspeak it."___

_"Well, you know that I'm not dead, right?" Dustin asked._

_"Of _course_ they do!" Alessa told Dustin.___

_"Yesss, we know thissss," a wolf said.___

_"I came here because a... friend of mine is trapped between the living and the dead," Dustin explained with far more confidence than he felt. "I want to bring my friend back to the land of the living!"___

_The wolves conferred with each other with hissing voices. Dustin winced. They sounded horribly like snakes, and he _really_ didn't like snakes.___

_At last, one of the wolves said, "You may try to get your friend back... But you musssst complete sssssome tessssstssss in order to do ssssso."___

_"He knows that," Alessa told the wolves.___

_"Aah, the guardian of the ssssspirit world," one of the wolves said. "You wissssh to aid thisssss mortal, guardian?"___

_"Yes," Alessa replied firmly.___

_Dustin shot the cat a slightly startled look, but didn't say anything. He wasn't going to lose any help that he could get.___

_"The tesssstsss are all different," a white wolf with a female voice explained to Dustin. "They are each bassssed on a different element. Ssssshould you fail even one tessssst, you will losssse your friend forever."___

_"I won't fail," Dustin vowed, though he really wasn't totally sure of that.___

_The wolf who had spoken to Alessa looked at the cat again. "Take him to the place of the firsssst tesssst," it hissed._

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Read and review, please!


	11. Earth

**Is Love For Real?**

**Chapter Eleven - Earth**

****

**Disclaimer:** Don't own it, not making any money from it. Please don't sue, k? 

**Replies to reviews:**

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**YellowCrimsonforever** and **garnetred:** Well, Dustin _might_ pass all of the tests... Then again, he might not -Evil grin- 

**RedFox:** -Looks at DarkAngel and DarkCat- Why'd we have to pick her to be muses to? 

**DarkAngel:** Maybe because she uses animals and angels a lot in her stories? She understands us... Or tries to, at least 

**DarkCat:** -Shows an image of a small white cat with green eyes- 

**RedFox:** Hm... Good point. There's always Realms, too 

**DarkAngel:** -Shudders- Please don't remind me... The angels in that are _evil_

**RedFox:** No, that's only Apollo... And, technically, he's not _totally_ evil 

**DarkAngel:** But there are vampires! 

**mysterious-muse** and **BlueAngel07:** Glad you liked it! -Smiles 

**CamFan4Ever:** I know it is. -Grins-. Thank you for the cookies! But you might want to be careful. If you carry on feeding my muses, they'll probably come and visit you. Not necessarily a good idea considering how many ideas I have floating around in my head at the moment. Be warned. They unlock _hundreds_ of ideas 

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Cam studied the computer screen with a slight frown, and then looked at the guinea pig who was his father. "Dad, what do you think about this barrier?" he wanted to know. 

"I am not entirely sure," Sensei answered. 

"I mean, the Ninja Scroll that I found wasn't particularly helpful with what else was supposed to happen," Cam commented. "It would take too much time to try and cross-reference each of the scrolls to try and find more information." 

"The best thing to do would be to advise the Rangers to wait for the time being," Sensei told Cam. 

"I guess you're right," Cam replied, stretching his hands out in front of him. "I just don't want us to end up losing someone else." 

"Dustin is stronger than the others give him credit for," Sensei said. "He will fight with all of his strength and with everything he has in him to save Hunter's life." 

"I _really_ hope you're right," Cam muttered. _I don't want to even _think_ about how _I'd_ feel if something like that happened to Shane._

"Of course I'm right. I'm _always_ right." As a guinea pig, Cam's father couldn't actually smile... But Cam knew that that was what he _would_ have been doing had he been back in his human form. 

Cam shook his head, and spoke into the communicator. "Hey Shane." 

Shane responded immediately. "Hey, Cam. What's up?" 

"I haven't been able to find a way of bringing the barrier that's blocking the entrance to the Cavern of Lost Souls down," Cam answered. "You're probably going to just have to wait." 

"_Wait_?" Cam could just see the scowl on Shane's face. 

"Yeah, wait," Cam replied. "You're going to have to learn patience, Shane, as difficult as that is for you." 

"Hey, Cam, I understand where you're coming from," Shane said seriously, no trace of fun in his voice. "But, dude, Blake and Tori aren't going to like it... Blake's ready to tear Dustin apart again as it is." 

"I know," Cam sighed. "I'll keep searching, Shane. But, to be honest, it doesn't really look good." 

"I understand," Shane responded. "But, Cam, you take care of yourself, ok?" 

Cam knew what it was that Shane wasn't saying: _I don't know what I'd do if I lost you._

"I'll be careful," Cam said before turning back to the computer.__

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_Alessa brought Dustin to a mountain.___

_As mountains went, it wasn't particularly big. But it was big enough. Dustin looked up at it, and gulped. Then, he looked at the white cat who was sitting there washing herself as though everything was fine.___

_"Why have you brought me here?" Dustin wanted to know.___

_Alessa glanced up, and flicked her tail a little. "This is the place of the first test," she answered.___

_Dustin rolled his eyes. "I know that," he muttered. "I mean, why is the first test _here_, of all places?"_

_Alessa gave him a slightly startled look. "Because this is the element that is closest to your heart," she explained, clearly surprised that the yellow wind ranger hadn't known that. "It would be the easiest test for you to complete if you had the ability inside you to do so."___

_Dustin bristled slightly. "What's _that_ supposed to mean?" he demanded.___

_Alessa looked even more surprised. "It just means that if you're going to complete _any_ test successfully, it would be the test of the element closest to your heart."___

_"I would have preferred to do the earth element test last," Dustin muttered.___

_"That would not be possible," Alessa told him. "The tests _must_ be done in a certain order."___

_Dustin looked steadily at the cat. "Why are you helping me?" he wanted to know. "And don't give me all of that about you just deciding on the spur of the moment and that you could change your mind at any moment. I _know_ that that isn't the truth." At least, he _thought_ that it wasn't the truth.___

_Alessa was silent for a long moment. "You do not need to know that," she said at last. "Suffice to say that I have my reasons. But those reasons are _my_ business, and not yours. In any case, you must get on with this test."___

_"What should I do?" Dustin asked.___

_"Why are you asking _me 

_"Because you're probably the only person who really knows for sure," Dustin mumbled. "And I'm _sure_ that ignorance isn't a requirement of these tests."___

_At just that moment, there was an ominous rumbling sound._ _Dustin looked around wildly before he realised just where the sound was actually coming from... And then, he looked up.___

_Huge boulders were falling down the side of the mountain.___

_"Oh, no!" Dustin cried. And, at just that moment, he heard a cry.___

_"Dustin, help!"___

_Dustin looked, and saw Blake standing some metres away from the foot of the mountain. The navy thunder ranger seemed to be almost paralysed with shock... And there was a huge boulder about to land on him.___

_"Ninja Storm, Ranger Form!"___

_Dustin didn't even stop to wonder exactly why morphing worked in the spirit world. He leaped over to Blake, and knocked the navy thunder ranger down, pinning him with his own body.___

_Dustin felt a sudden, crushing pain in his back._

_And everything went black._

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Read and review, please!


	12. Air

**Is Love For Real?**

**Chapter Twelve - Air**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from Power Rangers, Ninja Storm, and I'm not making any money from this fic. I _do_, however, own the cat

**Author's Note:** Hi, sorry it's taken me so long to update. I was trying to finish Roses and Thorns, so that at least I had _one_ fic finished. But I'm starting work on this one again!

**Replies to reviews:**

**BloriConra 4ever:** Ok, here's the next chapter. Hope you like it

**jj-monster:** It's probably not quite what you think...

**mysterious-muse:** Thanks for reviewing, and I'm glad you liked it

**YellowCrimsonforever:** Well, I can't tell you that outside of the fic... You're going to have to read this chapter to find out more

**garnetred:** Again, you're going to have to wait and see

**BlueAngel07:** I'm glad you liked it, and thanks for reviewing

**CamFan4Ever:** We-el... I'm sure if you _really_ want one of them to visit, they will

**Apollo:** Not me!

**RedFox:** You are _so_ annoying!

**DarkAngel:** Yeah

**Me:** Wow... They actually agreed on something

**DarkCat:** -Doesn't think it can last-

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_Dustin slowly stirred, and found himself in blackness._

_Suffocating blackness. Blackness which seemed to press in on him, making him feel claustrophobic. Funny. He hadn't been aware that he _could_ feel claustrophobic._

_For some reason, the thoughts going through Dustin's mind at that particular moment were of the first day he had become a Power Ranger, along with Shane and Tori. He remembered how excited he had been. But it had become much harder when he had realised that he couldn't actually tell anyone that he was the yellow wind Power Ranger._

_Dustin could remember everything with startling clarity. He wondered if this was what it felt like to be dead. He just felt numb. He didn't hurt anymore. But something kept on tugging at his mind, something that was really important. Something that he had to do._

_But when he tried to chase the thought and track it down, it escaped his grasp._

_Dustin remembered the first day he had met Blake and Hunter. He had shown quite bad judgment in trusting them. He had never been very good at seeing what people were really like on the inside. Shane had known, but when the red wind ranger had tried to warn him, Dustin had just brushed him off, thinking that Shane was just looking for any excuse to have a go at him and pick a fight._

_The yellow wind ranger regretted that. He regretted all of the mistakes he had made while he was alive._

_Dustin was certain that he was dying, if he was not already dead. After all, how else could he explain this sudden blackness he was in, with nothing else around that he could see?_

_The yellow wind ranger had always heard people say that your whole life flashed before your eyes when you were about to die, but he had never really believed it until now._

I wonder if there really _is_ a heaven?_ Dustin thought. It would be nice if he went to heaven, if there was one. He felt that he really deserved to go there, after all of the times he and the others had saved the Earth from Lothor's aliens._

_But what was it that he had to remember to do?_

_-FLASH- Dustin first going to the wind ninja academy, how excited he had felt when he had realised that he was going._

_-FLASH- Dustin first meeting Shane and Tori, the way the three had instantly become friends with barely an effort made on the yellow wind ranger's part._

_-FLASH- A little boy running in the playground, and falling down and crying. A young girl, a little older than him, coming over to help with a kind of grave quietness around her. Looking up into green eyes, like a cat's._

_-FLASH- A white cat, a stray that Dustin brought home. She was hurt badly, stuck in a trap a cruel person had put out._

_-FLASH- Meeting the young girl again a short while after he had joined the wind ninja academy, thinking about how catlike she looked, with her long white-blonde hair and bright green eyes._

_-FLASH- Hunter taking the bullet for Dustin._

_-FLASH- Hunter dead._

Hunter's dead.

Hunter's dead... And it's my fault...

_Then, a voice. A voice in the darkness. "Wake up, wake up Dustin. It's not time for you to die yet."_

_A white light in the darkness._

"_Yeah, go into the light," Dustin muttered as he felt himself pulled towards it._

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Cam shook his head as he watched his computer screen. He had tried everything he could think of, but the barrier was still there, preventing the other Power Rangers from being able to enter the cave.

"Dad, why do you think this might be?" Cam asked the guinea pig. "Why do you think I can't break open the barrier?"

"Something may be preventing you from doing so for some reason or another," Sensei responded after a moment's thought. "Perhaps if the other rangers were to enter the cave, then they would endanger whatever is happening to Dustin."

"Yeah, or they could help Dustin," Cam muttered. From what his father had just said, he guessed that whatever had closed off the cave was an entity of some sort, but whether good or evil, he didn't know.

"Hey, Cam, any luck?" Shane's voice came from the green samurai ranger's morpher, but the red wind ranger didn't really sound very hopeful.

"No, not yet," Cam answered, trying to keep his own feeling of hopelessness out of his voice. The last thing he wanted was to cause the other Power Rangers, especially Shane, to give up hope.

Because there _had_ to be hope. There just _had_ to be. Dustin had entered the Cavern of Lost Souls for a specific reason, and that reason could well be something to do with Hunter.

Which meant that the crimson thunder ranger could well be brought back to life.

Cam slowly shook his head as he turned his attention back to his computer, struggling to find the right sequence to open the barrier. There was just one thing he wanted to know.

Why Dustin? Of all of the people to be able to bring the crimson thunder ranger back to life, why had the one who was the most air headed been chosen?

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_Dustin groaned as his eyes fluttered open. His whole body felt like it was bruised, which was odd because he only remembered that huge boulder striking his back._

_Why wasn't he dead?_

_Dustin attempted to move, and found, to his utter surprise, that nothing seemed to be broken. That was even stranger. That boulder had hit him with enough force to break his spine, but he could move fine, with only the feeling of being bruised. And _that_ feeling was quickly fading as well._

I should be dead.

_The thought intruded, unwelcome, on Dustin's awareness. He had a vague recollection of being in blackness, and the only thing that had brought him back was a voice calling him. He somehow had the feeling that he should have known the voice, but he couldn't put a name or a face to the owner of the voice._

_For some reason, Dustin was remembering two things that he had originally pushed to the back of his mind - a strange girl, and the cat he had saved from a trap._

_The girl had originally come first. Dustin had been running in the playground when he was quite little, and had fallen and hurt himself. The girl, with her long white-blonde hair and bright green eyes which were a little slanted and lithe body, had hurried over to him, and had picked him up, brushing him off and regarding him gravely, which had made Dustin stop crying, as he had been a little in awe of her, as well as feeling a little scared._

_Of course, the other children had all denied seeing her, and Dustin had eventually pushed her to the back of his mind._

_Then, when the yellow wind ranger had been a little older, he had found a small white cat stuck in a trap, badly injured and struggling to get free. He had carefully freed the tiny animal, and had taken her home to nurse her back to health. Then, when she had been healed, the cat had disappeared one day, never to return. Dustin had been unhappy for ages after her disappearance._

_And then, Dustin had seen the young girl across the street when he had been returning from the wind ninja academy. Of course, it hadn't been the same girl - she didn't look a day older. But he had still watched her, fascinated, until she had turned a corner and gone._

"_Are you just going to stand there staring into space forever?"_

_Alessa's voice intruded on Dustin's thoughts. The yellow wind ranger sighed, and turned to look at the cat. "I failed, didn't I?"_

_The cat blinked slowly. "What do you mean, you failed?" she asked._

"_The test."_

_Alessa shook her head from side to side. "No, you succeeded," she answered. "Just that the boulder almost killing you wasn't planned. Your next test is the element of air," she added, nodding to the prone figure lying on the ground a short distance away. "She cannot breathe. You must find out what is preventing her from breathing, and then place her into the recovery position, before her heart stops beating."_

_The yellow wind ranger wasn't very surprised to see that it was Tori lying on the ground._

_Dustin slowly made his way over to the blue wind ranger, and crouched down beside her. He looked at her for a moment, trying to work out what could possibly be wrong._

Darn. I wish I'd paid more attention in first aid lessons.

_Dustin took a deep breath, and tried to calm himself. Panicking wasn't going to help any. But he just couldn't think of what he had to do. And, all the while, the seconds were ticking away._

_Suddenly, an image of Hunter came to Dustin's mind. The yellow wind ranger knew that he couldn't let the man he loved down. He _had_ to rescue the crimson thunder ranger. He couldn't just give up._

What if there's something blocking her airway?

_Dustin made a slight face, then slipped his fingers down Tori's throat. He found a small piece of plastic, and pulled it out._

_Dustin sat in thought for a moment, then started shifting Tori's position, following directions he hadn't even known he could remember._

_When he was finished, everything swirled around the yellow wind ranger._

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Read and review, please!

Does it seem rushed? I'm sorry.

**Apollo:** Stop apologising!


	13. Water

**Is Love For Real?**

**Chapter Thirteen - Water**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from Power Rangers, Ninja Storm, and I'm not making any money from this fic

**Replies to reviews:**

**YellowCrimsonforever:** Well, here's the next chapter, so you didn't have to wait really long . Thanks for reviewing

**BlueAngel07:** Thanks for reviewing, and I'm glad you liked it

**garnetred:** Yup, he passed his first test . Thanks for reviewing

**CamFan4Ever:** Glad you liked it, even though it was rushed . Sorry about Apollo. He's a dark angel - turned evil by what he's been through

**RedFox:** I'd be happy to come and help!

**DarkAngel:** Me too

**DarkCat:** -Nods-

**Me:** Well, you can't _all_ go! I won't be left with any muses left at all, apart from Apollo

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_Hunter stared out of the cave at his friends and his brother, and wished that he could touch them. That he could speak to them, tell them that he was all right. That everything would be all right._

_Even if he wasn't sure of that himself._

I wish you could see me, Blake,_ the crimson thunder ranger thought to himself. _I wish that you wouldn't cry. I wish that you could see that I'm not dead yet.

"_You should not watch them if it pains you so much, Son."_

_The crimson thunder ranger wasn't surprised to see his parents standing behind him. As spirits, his parents had to leave continually. Hunter didn't know where they went, and he somehow got the feeling that he wouldn't want to know. Because he wasn't a true spirit, he didn't have to keep on leaving. Yet._

_He could just stay, and watch the misery of his friends._

"_I don't want to leave them alone," Hunter replied. "I _know_ that they can't see me... But I still feel better, being able to see them. Knowing that there's a chance I'll be able to return to them."_

"_We worry about you, Hunter," his mother said. "It is bad for you to stay here and watch your friends while they grieve for your death."_

I wonder how Dustin's doing?_ Hunter thought to himself, ignoring his mother's words. _I wonder if I would know straight away if Dustin fails, or not? Probably, it would take a while for the effects to occur. But I don't think that Dustin _will_ fail. I _know_ that he'll succeed. He won't fail me. I love and trust him.

_Hunter sighed, watching his brother carefully. Blake had almost heard him just after his apparent 'death', the crimson thunder ranger was sure of it. But did that mean that his brother would be able to hear him? Hunter didn't even know _why_ Blake had almost heard him. There must have been a specific factor involved when he had been trying. Something which had almost enabled him to reach through to his brother._

_Hunter sighed, coming to a decision, and called Blake's name._

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Blake stood staring over the cliff, watching the waves crash against the shore. He felt tired, and his eyes were gritty. All he wanted to do was stay at home, curled up, and cry his eyes out because of his brother's death.

Instead, he was out at the Cavern of Lost Souls, chasing after a fool's errand just because Cam thought that there could be a chance that Hunter was still alive.

_I'd_ know_ if Hunter was still alive,_ Blake told himself. _We were always close, even before our parents were murdered by Lothor. All through our lives, Hunter's always been there for me... But I wasn't there when it really mattered._

"You ok?" Tori asked from behind the navy thunder ranger.

Blake started to snap at the blue wind ranger, then closed his eyes. Yelling at Tori wouldn't bring his brother back, and it would serve no purpose other than to alienate his girlfriend and hurt her feelings.

"No, I'm not," Blake mumbled. "Hunter's dead, and I couldn't even save him."

"You don't know that for sure," Tori told Blake, her tone insistent. She _had_ to make him listen to her.

Blake just sighed, and stared at the sea again.

"Listen to me." Tori took Blake's arm and pulled him round, forcing the navy thunder ranger to look at her. "I _know_ that you're feeling really frustrated and hurt, and so are we all. But if there _is_ a way to bring Hunter back... Are you really going to refuse to help out?"

Blake regarded his girlfriend carefully for a few moments. Then, he slid his arms around the blue wind ranger, and held her tightly, burying his face in her hair, needing to be close to her at that moment. "I'm afraid to hope," he whispered. "I don't want to hope, and then have it snatched away again."

"But if you refuse to hope, then you're just going to be really miserable," Tori insisted. "The despair will eat at you inside."

"I guess you're right," Blake admitted. "But it's going to be hard to forgive Dustin for causing my brother's death... All right, spirit state."

"Well, it technically wasn't Dustin's fault," Tori answered. "Hunter made the decision to take the blaster shot for him... I see your point, though. But if Dustin _is_ able to get Hunter back, will you forgive him?"

"I guess so," Blake sighed.

_Blake._

The navy thunder ranger's head shot up at the voice that had just intruded on his awareness, and looked around in confusion.

Tori blinked. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"Someone just called my name," Blake responded, looking around for the source. Shane was talking into his morpher, so it couldn't have been him.

"I didn't hear anything," Tori frowned.

_Blake._

_No way,_ the navy thunder ranger thought as, against everything he knew to be true, he allowed his eyes to track towards the entrance to the Cavern of Lost Souls.

There, defying all the known laws of life and death, stood Hunter, just inside the cave mouth. His eyes were fastened on his brother, and his lips were parted slightly, as though he had just spoken, which he obviously had. He was glowing with a soft white light, but, otherwise, looked fine.

Slowly, Blake raised his hand in a salute to the crimson thunder ranger.

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_Dustin blinked as the world stopped swirling around him, but saw, immediately, that he wasn't in the place he was before. He was now in a forest similar to the one the secret entrance to NinjaOps was hidden in._

_Alessa just sat washing herself. She was probably used to the continual changing of scenery in this world. She was, after all, a native to it._

"_What do I do now?" Dustin asked the white cat._

_Alessa looked up at the yellow wind ranger, and yawned. "Why ask me? These are _your_ tests, after all."_

_Dustin frowned. He wondered, yet again, why Alessa had decided to come with him to help him in his tests. There _had_ to be a reason other than the one she had given him... But what could it possibly be? It probably wouldn't do any good to ask her. The last time he had tried, she had refused to tell him._

_Before Dustin could say anything, his ears caught the sound of rushing water - a stream. And, much fainter, a voice calling for help. A voice which the yellow wind ranger recognised as belonging to Shane._

_Dustin scrambled to his feet, and hurried off in the direction of the sound of water, barely aware of Alessa coming with him, keeping close to his heels._

_The red wind ranger was in a glittering stream, clinging to a rock almost in the middle. He was obviously getting dragged by the current, and Dustin could tell that he couldn't hold on for much longer. The red wind ranger was tiring._

"_Hold on, Shane!" Dustin yelled. He looked at the stream, and saw that he probably wouldn't be able to reach his friend, even if he stretched out as far as he could. He would need something long, which wouldn't break very easily. Possibly a stick._

_No sooner had that thought occurred to him, then Dustin felt a hand lightly touch his arm. "Here," a female voice said. "You can use this."_

_Dustin looked up into a grave, catlike face. For a moment, he stood frozen. Then, he lay on the ground, on his stomach, and stretched the stick out as far as he could. "Shane, grab on!" he yelled over the sound of the water. "I'll pull you to shore."_

_The red wind ranger grabbed the stick on the second try. Dustin nearly lost Shane when the stick was almost ripped out of his hands, but pale hands closed on the stick around his, and the yellow wind ranger hung on grimly as, inch by painful inch, he dragged the red wind ranger out of the water._

_As soon as Shane was safely on the shore, Dustin looked around._

_The girl was gone._

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Read and review, please!

I know... It's quite rushed, isn't it? Sorry. The final test (not the next one, but the one after) will probably be longer


	14. Thunder

**Is Love For Real?**

**Chapter Fourteen - Thunder**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from Power Rangers, Ninja Storm, and I'm not making any money from this fic

**Replies to reviews:**

**YellowCrimsonforever:** That's really good idea . I'd use it, but I already know why the cat helps Dustin, and it's a different reason. But it's a great idea anyway, and I'd use it if I was still having problems working out why the cat was helping Dustin . Thanks for reviewing, and I'm glad you liked it

**CamFan4Ever:** You can borrow one of my muses again, if you'd like . Thanks for reviewing, and I'm glad you liked it

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"I think perhaps that it would be a good idea to stop trying to break down the barrier," Sensei told Cam after watching his son try again, in vain, to find a way of breaking through the barrier blocking the entrance to the Cavern of Lost Souls.

"Why?" Cam asked. "I'm sure I'll be able to find a way of breaking down the barrier eventually, if I keep trying."

"Perhaps you don't need to?" Sensei suggested. "Whatever, or whoever, has created that barrier may have done it for a good reason. Perhaps the presence of the others would only serve to interfere with what is going on in the Cavern of Lost Souls."

Before Cam could reply to that, Shane's voice came through the morpher. "Hey, Cam," the red wind ranger said. "Blake thinks that we don't need to try and enter the Cavern of Lost Souls. Apparently, he thinks he saw Hunter's ghost." The leader of the Power Rangers sounded rather confused, and almost like he thought Blake had been imagining things. But he probably wouldn't argue with the navy thunder ranger.

"Oh, ok," Cam responded after a moment's hesitation. "Are you going to come back to NinjaOps, then?"

Almost as soon as the words had left Cam's mouth, three coloured streaks sped into NinjaOps - Shane, Blake, and Tori.

"That was fast," Cam commented, turning round in his chair to look at the three Power Rangers.

"Well, we didn't think there was much point in hanging around outside the Cavern of Lost Souls," Shane answered. The red wind ranger walked over to the green samurai ranger, who had turned back round in his chair, and rested his hands on Cam's shoulders, leaning over him to look at the computer screen. "What'cha doing?"

"Well, I _was_ trying to find a way of breaking down that barrier," Cam responded. "But I guess now I don't need to."

"Want to make out?" the red wind ranger asked with a grin.

Cam rolled his eyes. "Hunter's trapped between the living and the dead, and _you_ want to make out..."

"Hey, I'm kidding," Shane replied, moving back from Cam and raising his hands in mock surrender. "We'll make out _after_ we get Hunter back, instead," the red ranger added, deliberately trying to rile Cam.

Tori laughed while Sensei just shook his head sadly. Blake stared at the ground.

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"_So, who was that girl?" Dustin asked Alessa, as he followed the white cat._

"_I _told_ you, I was hunting," Alessa answered. "I didn't see any girl at all. Are you sure you didn't imagine her?"_

"_I'm sure," Dustin replied firmly. "She handed me a stick, and then helped me pull Shane out of the water."_

"_Well, she must be a spirit," Alessa said. "There are a lot of them around, even if you can't always see them."_

"_Are _you_ a spirit?" Dustin wanted to know._

_The white cat sped up, either not hearing Dustin's question, or, more likely, just ignoring it. The yellow wind ranger had to almost run to keep up with her. "Where are we going?" he called._

"_To the place of the next test," Alessa answered._

"_But where's that?" Dustin demanded._

_Before Alessa could reply, the yellow wind ranger heard someone call his name, and Cam hurried up to him._

"_Hey, Dustin, can you help me out with something?" the green samurai ranger asked. "It's an experiment I have to do."_

"_Um, sure," Dustin replied. He was past wondering just why his friends were featuring a great deal in his tests. He just wanted to complete them._

"_Come on, then." Cam turned, and started running._

_After a few moments, Dustin started running after his friend._

_And ran straight into a thunderstorm._

"_Cam!" Dustin yelled, squinting to see his friend in the sudden downpour. The rain was in his eyes, and the lightning was almost blinding him. "Cam, we have to get out of this thunderstorm!"_

_There was no reply._

_Dustin pushed forward grimly, battling against the wind. He was a wind ranger, a little wind wasn't going to hurt him!_

_Dustin tried yelling for the green samurai ranger again, but the wind snatched his words away._

_The yellow wind ranger suddenly bumped into Cam, who was standing still, staring at the lightning in apparent fascination._

"_Cam, come on!" Dustin yelled, grabbing at the green samurai ranger's arm. _He's probably in shock or something.

_Cam still didn't move._

_Dustin cursed, and looked up to see a bolt of lightning strike just in front of Cam. He grabbed the green samurai ranger's arm, and streaked off, still holding onto Cam._

_Dustin had no idea where he was going, but he felt like he was being pulled somewhere._

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Read and review, please!


	15. Fire

**Is Love For Real?**

**Chapter Fifteen – Fire**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from Power Rangers, Ninja Storm, and I'm not making any money from this fic

**Replies to reviews:**

**garnetred:** Glad you liked it, and thanks for reviewing

**SapphireRayne:** She _is_ helping… Honestly. I can't really tell you how, though you'd probably be able to work it out by the end of this chapter . Anyways, thanks for reviewing, and I'm glad you liked it

**Yellowcrimsonforever:** Heh, it makes up for leaving so long before I updated this fic again, at least . Thanks for reviewing, and I'm glad you liked it

**BlueAngel07:** I'm glad you liked it, and thanks for reviewing

**CamFan4Ever:** Here's the next chapter . Thanks for reviewing

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_Dustin suddenly stopped._

_He didn't know _why_ he stopped. It was like something else was controlling what he was doing._

_The yellow wind ranger barely noticed the fact that he was no longer holding onto Cam. He was past being surprised at what was going on in this strange world he was trapped in._

"_This is the place of the final test."_

_Dustin jumped and whirled round, his heart pounding. "Wah!"_

_Alessa was sitting there, calmly washing herself. She looked up at Dustin. "Why are you looking so surprised?"_

_Dustin opened his mouth to say something, and then closed it. He tried again. "Why… How did you get here?"_

"_I have my own ways of getting around," the white cat answered. She flicked her tail once then pounced on a blade of grass waving slightly in the breeze._

_Dustin folded his arms across his chest. "All right," the yellow wind ranger said. "I want some answers, and I want them _now_. Just _why_ are you helping me?"_

"_We don't have time for this!" Alessa snapped. "You _do_ remember that you have a time limit, don't you?"_

"_There's only one test left," Dustin replied. "I'm sure there's enough time for you to tell me why you're here with me."_

"_Do you even _know_ how long you've been here for?" Alessa demanded._

"_Not really," Dustin shrugged. "But I'm sure it can't have been _that_ long."_

"_You didn't come here straight away," Alessa reminded him. "And time moves differently here in the spirit world."_

_The yellow wind ranger frowned slightly as a sudden thought occurred to him. He gestured towards the surrounding area. "Is all of this… everything in this world… Just memories?"_

"_This world _is_ made up of ghosts' memories," Alessa admitted. "But memories can still harm you."_

"_Well?" Dustin asked, referring to their previous topic of conversation, the whole reason he had stopped in the first place._

_Alessa looked steadily at him for a long moment. "You helped me out once," she answered at last. "I'm repaying my debt to you."_

_Before Dustin could question the white cat further, he heard someone call his name._

_The yellow wind ranger walked in the direction of the voice, not really paying attention to the fact that Alessa was following him._

_Dustin stopped dead as he came to a huge ravine gaping in front of him. A step further, and he would have fallen._

"_Dustin!"_

_The yellow wind ranger looked up, and saw Hunter on the other side of the ravine. The crimson thunder ranger had a sad look on his face, like nothing was going right for him._

_There was a rope bridge stretching across the ravine, a few metres away from where Dustin was standing._

"_Dustin, be careful," Alessa warned as the yellow wind ranger started towards the bridge. "There's a fire pit in that ravine. Your weight could well lower the bridge enough to burn it before you could get to the other side."_

"_I don't have a choice," Dustin replied. "I _have_ to get to Hunter." And the yellow wind ranger stepped onto the bridge._

_Immediately, it sagged beneath his weight. Dustin felt the heat hit him. It was nearly unbearable. He started to look down, but then stopped himself._

_If he saw where the fire was, he was sure that he'd never make it across to the other side._

_Dustin fixed his eyes on Hunter, his goal, and started walking._

_Dustin was about halfway across when he heard something snap behind him. He knew, without looking, that at least one of the ropes had been burnt through._

_Dustin grabbed onto one of the sides, and started edging along._

_Suddenly, the whole bridge broke beneath him._

_Dustin held on tightly to the rope, and was swung into the other side of the ravine. Hard._

_The heat from the fire below him almost made Dustin cry out. He had to fight to not give up and let go of the one thing preventing him from falling and being consumed by the flames._

"_Here, grab hold of my hand."_

_Dustin looked up, and saw the same girl who had helped him with Shane. She was leaning over the edge of the ravine, her arm stretched down as far as it would go._

_But Dustin was worried about letting go of his only handhold. "You won't be strong enough to pull me up!" he protested._

"_Trust me," the girl replied. "I _will_ be able to pull you up."_

_Dustin hesitated, and then grabbed hold of the girl's hand, and she pulled him up with little difficulty._

_Of course, when Dustin managed to clamber over the edge, he saw that Hunter had helped the girl, which explained her sudden strength._

_Feeling suddenly dizzy, Dustin held tightly onto the man he loved. Just before he lost consciousness, he saw, dimly, the form of the girl shimmer into a white cat._

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Read and review, please!

Only one more chapter to go!


	16. Reunion

**Is Love For Real?**

**Chapter Sixteen – Reunion**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from Power Rangers, Ninja Storm, and I'm not making any money from this fic

**Replies to reviews:**

**YellowCrimsonforever:** Here's the next chapter . Thanks for reviewing, and I'm glad you liked it

**garnetred:** Yeah, they can . Thanks for reviewing, and I'm glad you liked it

**pyke:** Towards the beginning of this story, either you or someone with the same name reviewed the first chapter. And reviews always help me to continue with something (Roses and Thorns…), and not give up on it. Thanks for reviewing anyways, and I'm glad you liked it

**SapphireRayne:** Well, now you can see if you were right . Thanks for reviewing

**BlueAngel07:** Thanks for reviewing, and I'm glad you liked it

**CamFan4Ever:** Here's the final chapter . Thanks for reviewing

Ok, just like Roses and Thorns, I'd like to thank everyone who's read and reviewed this fic. You guys are _so_ great! –Hugs everyone- I didn't have the same sort of problems with this fic as I had with Roses and Thorns (aside from being really worried that I was writing the characters all wrong…) but you guys still helped me and gave me the encouragement I needed to complete this! Thank you so much

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When Dustin came to, he realised that he was in the rec. room, kneeling next to the bed, his head rested on his folded arms.

The yellow wind ranger raised his head, and saw that Hunter was lying on the bed he was leaning on. The crimson thunder ranger was lying still, pale with his eyes closed. But, as the yellow wind ranger watched, colour flooded Hunter's face, and his eyes flickered open.

"Hunter!" Dustin cried, scrambling to his feet and hugging the other tightly.

After a few moments, Dustin felt Hunter's arms slip around him and cradle him gently.

"What are we doing back here?" the crimson thunder ranger wondered out loud. "Shouldn't we have ended up in the Cavern of Lost Souls?"

"Well, _your_ body _was_ here," Dustin pointed out. "I guess _my_ body kind of went _with_ me into the spirit world."

"What actually happened in the spirit world?" Hunter questioned. "The last thing I remember is being on the other side of that fire pit ravine. For the rest of the time, I was in the Cavern."

Dustin blinked. "Wait… You were actually _there_?" _Does that mean that the others were there as well?_

Hunter nodded slowly. "One minute in the Cavern, the next on the other side of a ravine filled with fire." He hesitated, then added, "I almost had a heart attack when that rope bridge got burnt through, and you nearly fell and got incinerated."

"Yeah, it was just as well I was holding onto the side," Dustin grinned. "I was basically doing these tests based on the elements… You know, earth, fire, wind, and water. Oh, and thunder."

Hunter blinked. "So, pretty much the elements of us Power Rangers, except fire in the place of Samurai, which isn't technically an element?"

Dustin nodded. "I had to help out each of the others as well," he replied. "I didn't think that they were really there. But if _you_ were…"

Hunter nodded slowly. "What about that girl-cat?" he asked. "What was the deal with her?"

"Well, when I was younger, I rescued a cat who got stuck in a trap," Dustin explained. "I looked after her until she was better, but then she disappeared. I never really thought about her again. It kind of hit me hard to have her just run away like that, apparently not even grateful for me helping her."

"You think that the cat in the spirit world was the same one you rescued?" Hunter frowned.

Dustin nodded. "Uh-uh," he said. "Where do you think the others are? Did they go to the Cavern of Lost Souls?"

Hunter nodded. "They _did_ come there," he answered. "I managed to get Blake to see me, though, and I think they came back here."

"I'll go check." Dustin straightened, and made his way to the door of the rec. room.

"I'll come with you." Hunter swung his legs off the bed and onto the floor. A wave of dizziness swept over him for a moment. He sat still until it faded, then stood up.

Dustin felt a little relieved that Hunter was going with him. He didn't _think_ there was going to be a row about what he had done to Hunter… But he wanted to be on the safe side.

As the yellow wind ranger reached for the handle of the door, the crimson thunder ranger touched his arm.

"It's all right," Hunter told Dustin in a low voice. "It's going to be all right. You righted the wrong you did. You were able to bring me back."

Dustin smiled weakly at Hunter, appreciating the effort the other was making to help him feel better. Then, taking a deep breath, Dustin pushed open the door, and walked into the main area of NinjaOps, closely followed by Hunter.

Cam was the first one to spot them. The green samurai ranger, for once, wasn't looking at his computer screen. He was actually facing the door to the rec. room, while the others were talking. Shane, Tori, and Blake quickly spotted Hunter and Dustin, though.

"Hunter!" Blake yelled, running over to his brother. The Bradley brothers hugged.

"I _thought_ you two might end up back here," Cam commented to Dustin.

"So, are you going to tell us what happened?" Shane wanted to know.

The yellow wind ranger summarised everything that had happened, from him entering the spirit world to he and Hunter returning to NinjaOps. He brought up Alessa because leaving her out wasn't an option.

"But… We weren't actually there," Tori said. "Only Hunter was."

"I think it was probably easier to actually use Hunter's spirit rather than Dustin's memories of him," Cam responded. "After all, Hunter _was_ the reason why Dustin went there in the first place."

The crimson thunder ranger slid his arm around Dustin, and gave the yellow wind ranger a gentle one-armed hug.

"I'm glad Dustin was there to help me out."

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Read and review, please!

Yay, it's over! Hm… Why do my endings always end up rushed? -- Oh, well


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